


intent

by orphan_account



Series: aloe vera & lemon citrus [2]
Category: All For The Game - Nora Sakavic
Genre: Angst Lite, Hurt/Comfort, Illness, It's awesome, M/M, Magic AU, Mentions of past child abuse, Plants everywhere, Sex, Violence, aaron is a green mage, but it isn't very specific, even if i do say so myself, gemstones and rocks everywhere, i did so much research guys, im shit at tagging things, im sorry, vague references to eating disorder
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-08-13
Updated: 2017-08-12
Packaged: 2018-12-14 09:30:21
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 31,063
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11780304
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: Goofy Summary: Local Boyfriends Curse and Get Cursed, What Happens Next Will Warm Your Heart.Serious Summary: An Epidemic, an Epic Romance (sorta) and a unique Epoch of Magick. The Butcher is back, but things never go as planned. Turmoil and tension are ever-present, but tender moments can still be had in the quiet times between.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> okay so... have 30k words of Angst Lite™ plus fluff, smut, and even a dash of actual humor
> 
> i needed something lighter after my epic marathon of writing 'the letting go' okay
> 
> this was the solution
> 
> it was fun to write and you should [TOTALLY CHECK OUT THE AMAZING ART OKAY](https://wingsofwaxx.tumblr.com/post/164079055528/still-waiting-for-godot-commission-for)
> 
> THANK YOU SO MUCH [@still-waiting-for-godot](http://still-waiting-for-godot.tumblr.com/)!!!! I OWE YOU LIKE, MY ENTIRE LIFE AND I HOPE YOU LIKE THIS ♥♥♥
> 
> thanks also goes to [@webedragons](http://webedragons.tumblr.com/) for generally always being amazing and encouraging ♥ i owe you a million times over for help with the summary and for the cute little poems too!! i don't know how i'd get by without you, dear! 
> 
> alright, i'm done. enjoy~

Aaron grabs the last set of vials from the little stand and packs them into the burlap-lined bucket as quickly and carefully as he can. As soon as the tiny corked tubes have settled, he snatches up the bucket and dashes through the yard and into the back of the house. It takes just a few steps to get from the kitchen to the front of the store. Six exhausted-looking women with screaming infants in their arms turn to look at him the moment he arrives.

“It's all here,” he says. He and Nicky get them to gather up at the counter. He is almost shouting to be heard over the screaming babies, but he explains how to give the medicine and what it does. Aaron also tells them what to look out for, just in case any of them are allergic to something in it. He makes sure each woman leaves with two vials and a card with their phone number on it. He's taken to sleeping downstairs so he can be close to the phone and his supplies.

It takes just over twenty minutes to get all of the women and their screaming kids out of the store. Nicky looks like he's ready to tear his hair out. Aaron is just ready to go collapse on the couch and sleep for the next three days. He's been dragging all day. It isn't quite time to close up the shop yet, though, so Nicky plants himself behind the counter. He's still working on a letter to his boyfriend across the country - it must be ten pages long by now. Aaron just slumps back through the door to the kitchen and dumps himself in a chair at the table. He rests his head on his arms, only intending to rest for a moment…

“Hey,” Matt says softly, squeezing Aaron’s shoulder gently. Aaron jerks upright and looks around. The clock reads seven pm. He curses. “What's wrong?”

“I wasn't supposed to fall asleep,” Aaron says, then immediately yawns. “I still need to get out there and make more of that shit for the kids… It's just getting worse.” He stands and wavers on his feet. Matt catches him by the elbow and makes him sit back down.

“You're gonna get yourself sick if you aren't careful,” he says. “At least eat something first, okay? I know how you get when you're working…”

Aaron scowls up at him. He wants to call him on that and say ‘how’ but the truth is, Matt does know. Ever since Matt came by four months ago asking after the fucking love potion, he's been a near constant fixture either in the shop with Aaron or in the greenhouse. Aaron wants to call him annoying and a pest, but he can't quite bring himself to do that - especially when Matt comes back over to the table with a bag from his favorite sandwich shop.

“Thanks,” Aaron mutters instead, taking the wrapped-up sandwich and biting into it. Spicy, as always, just the way he likes it. “How's your mom doing with her leg?”

“Better,” Matt says with a soft smile. “That stuff you gave her for the pain really helped. It doesn't make her loopy like the drugs the doctors gave her.” Aaron nods and takes another bite. “I've got another fight next weekend.”

Aaron frowns. “Getting your nose broken wasn't enough for you?” Matt laughs and shakes his head. While Andrew runs in the underground boxing circles, Matt is a pro. He gets paid - nicely- for winning fights. He even gets paid when he loses. “Whatever. When are you going back to Renee?” She has been teaching him about blue magick, something Matt seems to have a bit of an affinity for.

“She hasn't said.” Matt shrugs easily. “She mentioned the winter solstice, though. She told me to ask you if you guys were coming this year.”

“Probably,” Aaron says. “We've only ever missed one.” He personally likes Beltane the best, but he won't mention that to Matt. He's more interested in seeing Matt's reaction to it when he sees everything for the first time. It's bound to be amusing. “Are you going?”

“Am I invited?” Matt asks skeptically. “I had a feeling it was only for you guys.”

“Yeah, you're invited,” Aaron sighs. “Renee wouldn't have mentioned it to you if she didn't want you to come. Besides, the solstice is like our Christmas.”

“So, gifts?” Matt asks, wrinkling his eyebrows.

Aaron nods. “They're supposed to be personal, like something you make yourself. I usually make up teas and lotions and other useful things for everyone. Neil gives everyone blocking wards - ways to keep yourself safe. Kevin likes to create new puzzles, so he’ll come up with a bunch of those. Andrew does protection spells. Nicky gives people rocks.”

“Excuse you!” Nicky shouts from the door, offended but still smiling. “My rocks are beautiful, and they help out with a lot of things. They help keep your greenhouse all balanced out, now don't they?”

Aaron rolls his eyes, and Matt chuckles a little. “Whatever, Nicky. I'm trying to explain the winter solstice.”

“Oh!” Nicky bounds in and flops at the table. “It's so great! We all get together, and there's tons of food and the traditional Yule log, and it's basically just a big ass party for the most part. You're totally coming this year!”

“I can't really make anything,” Matt admits with a shrug. “So I'm not sure what I'll do about gifts…”

“We’ll help you out, don't worry!” The bell over the door to the shop jingles and Nicky sighs. “Back to work!” He grins and heads back through the door, leaving them alone once more.

“I'll help you make charms or something. Blue magick is good for peace, happiness, loyalty, patience, meditation, calming. All that is useful - especially when trying to work on something complex. Even simple charms can be powerful. Just depends on how much of yourself you put into it and the intention behind it. Nicky's dumb rocks might actually come in handy.” He smirks.

Matt rubs the side of his face where he's got a bit of dark stubble growing in. “You seem to know a lot about it, too.”

Aaron shrugs. “It's the water magick. I'm a green mage, so I have a lot to do with water. I've had to learn a lot. I don't know as much as Renee, but I get by.”

“Can you teach me? Renee seems to be busy a lot, and I don't want to bug her. She also…”

“Likes to get kinda preachy?” Matt nods and rubs the back of his neck guiltily. Aaron smirks. “I can try, but what I know might not help you much. I learned what I did to help out with my green magick, so it's biased.”

“But you know the basics, right?”

“Some,” Aaron shrugs. “Not now, though. Not unless you want to get in there and start crushing plants.”

“I've asked if I could help before,” Matt says easily. “You threw me out.” He grins.

“Yeah, well, I can't keep up now.” Aaron finishes half last of his sandwich, wraps up the other half, and wipes his hands on a spare towel on the table. “This sickness just keeps spreading and spreading. Even the rich people are coming here now. I've got a fucking waiting list for the shit because I can't make my plants grow fast enough.” He frowns hard and crosses his arms over his chest. “There's another green mage across town that I need to go see. He doesn't have a shop or anything, not like we do, but Renee says he's good at what he does.”

“We can go tomorrow morning?” Matt suggests. “If both of you can work together on this stuff, that will make everything a lot easier on you. Even if you have to sacrifice some time making the medicine…”

Aaron nods, but he isn't happy about it. “It just takes so fucking long to get there,” he grumbles.

“I'll drive,” Matt says easily. He smiles when Aaron looks up at him, eyes wide and lips parted. “I have a truck, remember? There's no point in driving it the three blocks here from my place, but across town? Yeah. I needed it to get to some of my fights anyway.”

“That...that would help,” Aaron says slowly. He narrows his eyes at Matt. “What do you want in return?”

Matt laughs and leans closer to him. He hums thoughtfully, and Aaron rolls his eyes. “How about you agree to teach me a little bit about blue magick, and I get kisses whenever I want?” Aaron shoves his hand in Matt's face and pushes him away, even as Matt laughs.

“Fine. But you're coming in with me to meet this other mage. I have no idea how many other mages this guy lives with or what they can do.” Aaron stands and goes to the sink for a glass of water.

“Wanna bring Andrew along?” Matt asks seriously.

“No. Most covens aren't antagonistic unless they have a damn good reason to be. It should be fine.” He looks back at Matt. “I'm just paranoid.”

Matt stands and wraps his arms around Aaron. “With good reason,” he says softly, bending to rest his chin on the top of Aaron’s head. “Of course I'll go with you. What time do you want to leave?”

“Early. No later than seven thirty.” Aaron pulls back and looks up at Matt. “I really should try to get one more batch done…”

“Let me help?” Matt asks. “I might not be able to do much, but I can try.” He lifts his hand over Aaron’s glass, and the water inside begins to shift and swirl. He grins at Aaron’s wide eyes. “Renee taught me that. Neat, huh?”

“You might be able to draw the water out of the leaves,” Aaron mumbles. “Come on, we’ll try it.” He drags Matt outside by the hand, passing Kevin where he's playing with his dog, Aristotle, as they go.

The inside of the greenhouse is toasty warm. Aaron starts grabbing what he needs for a new batch and lays the first set of plants and herbs out on his work bench. He points to one. “Okay. Try to focus on the water in the leaves and draw it out.”

Matt holds his hand over it, and his eyebrows bunch together as he concentrates. Nothing happens. He lets out a frustrated noise. “Can I touch it?” Aaron nods and Matt places a couple of fingers on the bare edge of the leaf. Aaron watches as it begins to shrivel up and green-tinted water leaks out onto the wood around it.

“Fuck,” he swears lowly. “That's brilliant.” He grabs the front of Matt’s shirt and yanks him down even as he stands on his tiptoes. He kisses him hard and fast. “I'll get the other shit ready. Keep doing that with all of those.”

Matt laughs a little. “This helps that much?”

Aaron blinks up at him. “I can speed the drying process on my own only a little bit. This will shorten the prep time by hours, babe.” He's off and running around the greenhouse before Matt even gets to call him out on calling him ‘babe.’ He lets it go because he knows how important this is, and he turns his attention to the scattered plant parts before him.

They work together for the next two hours, making up a whole fresh batch of medicine for the children Aaron has been caring for. Matt is proud of himself and of Aaron when he is able to go back inside and call the next six mothers on the list, even though it's late. One of them can't make it to the store to pick it up, so Aaron offers to take it to her. Matt kisses Aaron’s cheek when he hears that.

He's thought about Aaron’s story about Katelyn a lot. Even though he's glad to have Aaron now, he wishes Aaron didn't have to suffer so much. He thinks Aaron would have made an amazing father. Matt insists on walking with Aaron to the woman's house to deliver the medicine. It's six blocks away, and it's freezing cold and snowing outside. He even offers to drive, but Aaron just waves him off.

They bundle up in their coats, gloves, and scarves. Aaron tucks the little vials of medicine into a pouch and then puts it in a pocket close to his chest to keep them from freezing. Matt takes Aaron’s hand as they walk, and he doesn't think the cold is the reason Aaron’s cheeks are so red.

“So, this other green mage,” Matt says as they walk, “do you know his name or anything?”

Aaron shakes his head. “Renee just told me where to find him. There's a huge glass garden on that side of town so that we can have fresh vegetables through the winter. He works there. She just said I'd know him when I saw him, whatever that means.”

“Renee is weird like that,” Matt says with a one-armed shrug. Aaron nods in agreement because it is true. “I wonder if Abby could help you out. She's a nurse - always looks in on me before and after my matches. I think something is going on between her and Wymack, my trainer.” He grins.

“Have her come by,” Aaron says with a shrug. “If she can help me at all, I'll take it. Anything, just so long as these kids stop getting sick…”

Matt squeezes Aaron's hand. “I'll call her tomorrow. The more we can get working on this, the better, right?” Aaron nods. “And then maybe I can have an actual date with my boyfriend,” he teases.

Aaron scoffs. “You wish.” But his cheeks are an even brighter red now, so Matt just laughs and swoops down to kiss him again. Aaron playfully shoves him away. “Heathen,” he grumbles.

“You like me,” Matt sing-songs.

“Fuck knows why,” Aaron sighs. But he tightens his hand around Matt’s even as he says it. They walk in a comfortable silence until they reach the woman’s house. She has four children, all but the sick baby running around like crazy. Aaron goes in, and he shows her how to give her youngest boy the medicine and tells her how often to give it to him and what to look for in case he's allergic to anything. He has her write down the number for the shop as he holds her baby boy and comforts him. The medicine is just beginning to kick in and soothe him when Aaron gives him back to her. She pays him and thanks him and he and Matt head back out into the cold.

Matt wraps his arm over Aaron’s shoulder as they walk back. “So are you going to go home and actually go to sleep now?”

Aaron huffs. “Yeah, I'd really like to. I miss my fucking bed. But I have to sleep downstairs so I can hear the phone.” He rubs at his face. “I'm exhausted.”

“You've been working yourself to the bone,” Matt says softly. He rubs Aaron’s back. “Let me stay tonight?”

Aaron shakes his head. “I don't think it's a good idea. I'm stuck on the pullout downstairs, and I've been getting three and four calls a night. Sometimes I have to go to their houses with stuff to stop allergic reactions. I don't want to keep you up.”

“You have to rest at some point, babe,” Matt says softly. “You'll get yourself sick at this rate.”

As if on cue, Aaron coughs. “Shut up,” he says before Matt can say another word. “I'm not sick.”

“If you say so,” Matt sighs. They make it back to Aaron’s house, and Matt walks him to the door. “I'll be here at seven thirty.” Aaron nods. He brushes his fingers over Matt's lips, but he won't kiss him. Without another word, he goes inside and shuts the door. Matt heads back to his own small apartment over the little bakery a few blocks away.

\--

Aaron looks worse the next morning, but he insists on going to find the other green mage anyway. Matt's just glad his truck has heat. He makes Aaron drink some tea and eat a pastry he picked up from the bakery before he left as they head across town. It doesn't take long before they get to the big glass garden. It isn't quite the same as Aaron’s greenhouse, but it's nice.

“Let's find this guy,” Aaron says softly. He climbs out of Matt's truck first and heads inside without waiting for Matt. Matt is quick to catch up to him, though. Aaron wanders around for a bit before going to the very back. Matt can feel - something. He doesn't know what it is, but it's sort of tingly, almost like when he walks through Neil’s wards. It isn't quite the same, though.

“You,” Aaron says darkly. There is only one man in sight, kneeling by a bed of what looks like carrots.

He looks over at Aaron with wide eyes. Matt notices the spidery, pale scars on his face and neck instantly. He stands and holds both hands up in a surrendering gesture. “What do you want?” He doesn't sound afraid, only wary.

“Renee sent me,” Aaron spits. “She didn't say the green mage I was looking for was a fucking Raven.”

The man flinches. “I am no longer a Raven.” His voice is quiet but intense. Matt knows intent has a lot to do with magicks. “I am a Trojan, now. Ask Jeremy.”

That seems to catch Aaron off guard. “What?”

The man nods. “He took me in after Riko tried to destroy me.” He gestures to his face, and Matt assumes he means the scars there. “Now, why did Renee send you? Why are you looking for a green mage?”

Aaron sniffs. “Kids have been getting sick,” he says stiffly. “I can't keep up anymore. I've got a fucking waiting list. I've cleared out my greenhouse for only what I need, and I just found out Matt here can pull the water from the plants to dry them, but it still takes too long.” He pauses for a moment. Reluctantly, he says, “I need help.”

The man frowns. “I'm...I'm afraid I might not be of much use to you.”

“Can you make shit grow?” Aaron snaps. The guy nods. “Then you'll be plenty of use. I can show you how to mix the stuff the correct way. It isn't especially difficult.” He just stares at the man for a while. “Jean. Will you help me? These kids are gonna keep getting sicker and die unless we do something about it. The shitty doctors in this city don't know what to do for them.”

Finally, the man - Jean - nods. “Very well. Let me go find Jeremy, and I will come back with you.” Aaron slumps and Matt has to reach forward to catch him.

“Aaron?” he asks worriedly. Aaron shoves Matt away and rubs at his eyes.

“I'm fine,” he grunts. “Just...dizzy for a second.”

“Will you make some of that medicine for yourself?” Matt asks. “You need it.”

“Later,” Aaron says with a nod. “But not now.” Matt sighs, but he isn't given a chance to argue. Jean and another man come back over to them.

“Hey Jeremy,” Aaron says. He's still not entirely friendly, but he's a lot less hostile than he was a moment ago.

“Hello, Aaron.” Jeremy smiles. “Who’s this?” Jeremy looks to Matt.

“Matt Boyd,” he says, holding out his hand. Jeremy shakes it. There's something charming about Jeremy. He's almost glowing.

“I’ll have Matt drop Jean back by later,” Aaron says tersely. “But we need to get busy. There's a lot to do, and I'm running out of time.”

“Jean has our number here,” Jeremy says. “Call if we can help in any way.” Aaron nods and turns on his heel. Matt is surprised he's managing to walk in a straight line. “Nice to meet you, Matt. I hope I'll see you again under better circumstances.”

Matt nods. “Same to you, man.” Jeremy smiles brightly again, and Matt and Jean head off after Aaron. They all pile into Matt's truck and head back to Aaron's shop. Aaron drops off to sleep almost instantly.

Jean frowns at Matt. “How long has he been ill?”

“Since last night,” Matt says with a sigh. “I keep trying to get him to chill out a little, but he won't even agree to make medicine for himself until he's got more for the little kids.”

“He's quite devoted, isn't he,” Jean says quietly. Matt just nods. “I'll do what I can to help.”

“I'll be helping too,” Matt says, “even if that's only drying shit out and keep an eye on Aaron. I'm worried about him.”

Jean doesn't respond to that, just curls his hands close to his stomach and stares out of the window. When they get back to the shop, Matt has to wake up Aaron. Aaron curses himself, but he doesn't waste any time. The get into the store, and Aaron does something to the wards to let Jean through. They go straight out to the greenhouse.

Aaron drags them both around slowly, telling them the names of each plant and what it is for in this particular medicine they are making. He has to stop several times to cough, but he doesn't call it quits. Once that's over with, he and Jean begin feeding the plants their magic, forcing them to grow faster than normal. They move around the greenhouse together, starting on opposite ends. Matt goes behind them with a watering can, giving them all the exact amount of water they need.

Once the plants are suitably grown, Aaron begins to pick individual ones, laying them out for Matt to dry. He tells Jean about the potion-come-medicine, and the underlying properties of it and how to render it as Matt dries the plants in front of him. Matt sits back and watches while Aaron instructs Jean on the exact amount of plants to use and the order in which to mix them. Aaron even adds spices and whiskey to the mixture.

The first batch is finished and set to the side, but Aaron pushes them all to move on to the next one. They are all exhausted by the time the third batch is done. Aaron sets the burlap-lined bucket with all the little vials in it on the workbench, then he looks at Matt.

“That should be enough to cover the waiting list and a few extra.” He smiles a little. He looks at Jean. “Thanks for helping. That would have taken me two days on my own.” Jean nods. Aaron takes one step towards Matt, and then his eyes roll back into his head as he falls forward. Matt lurches forward and grabs him before he can hit his head on something.

“Aaron!” Matt shakes him a little. “Aaron, wake up!”

Jean comes over and peers at him, frowning. “He's very ill,” is all he says.

Matt shifts Aaron around until he's holding him tight to his chest. “Get the bucket. Bring it inside to Nicky. He can handle getting them out to those who are waiting.” Matt frowns down at Aaron. “I just don't know what to do about him…”

“What we have been making isn't potent enough to help him,” Jean says. He frowns. “Does he have a grimoire anywhere? Perhaps I can make something to help if he already has it written out…”

“I don't know,” Matt says as he walks back to the house with Aaron in his arms. “You'll have to ask Nicky. Or Andrew.”

They get inside, and Matt goes straight for the pull-out couch in the side room off the kitchen. He lays Aaron out on it for now and drapes a blanket over him after taking off his apron. He runs over to the store, Jean following behind him.

“Nicky,” he calls. “Nicky, Aaron’s sick. He passed out.”

“What?” Nicky drops the crystal in his hand, and it clatters on the counter. “What happened!”

“We were in the greenhouse. Aaron was pushing himself way too hard to make the medicine stuff.” Matt gestures to the bucket Jean is still holding. “After we finished the third batch, he just passed out. I've got him on the pull-out now…”

“Oh shit,” Nicky says, bringing his hand to his mouth. He finally looks at Jean. “Wait a minute. Weren't you a Raven?”

“Not anymore,” Jean says, drawing him up a little straighter. He isn't quite as tall as Matt, but he's taller than Nicky. “I am a Trojan now. Ask Jeremy.”

“You're in with Jeremy?” Nicky asks. “Okay, okay. You were helping Aaron? Are you a green mage?” Jean nods. “Can you help him now? You know, like make something to make him better.”

Jean shakes his head. “I don't know anything like that. If Aaron has a grimoire or something that I may use, perhaps I can find something useful…”

Nicky shakes his head. “Even if I knew where he kept it, I wouldn't let you go through it. I'm sorry.” He frowns hard. “I need to call Andrew.”

“Call Renee,” Matt says. “Maybe she'll know what to do. I'm going to go call Abby.”

“Go where?” Nicky asks loudly.

“Just next door,” Matt says. “Call Renee!” He runs out of the front of the store and heads to the small shop next door. He begs to use the phone, and they let him. He calls Abby and tells her what's going on. She tells him she'll be there just as soon as she can be. Matt thanks her and hangs up. He tosses a couple of bills at the little old woman that let him use the phone as he runs back out to get back to Aaron.

Nicky waves him over as soon as he comes in. There are a couple of people in the shop, so he tugs Nicky into the kitchen. “Renee is on the way. Renee said she's calling Jeremy over too. He does a lot with yellow magick, which has something to do with healing, so maybe he can help too.”

Matt nods. “I called a nurse, too. Abby. She is the one who checks me out before and after my fights. I guess my trainer is probably on the way too. I'm gonna check on Aaron.”

Jean is just sitting at the kitchen table with a mug of tea clasped between his hands. He's frowning down at it. “I think I'll just go back to the greenhouse if that's okay?”

“Sure,” Nicky says. “Take the tea with you, if you like. Feel free to come back in for more whenever you like.” Jean nods, and he takes the mug with him as he goes outside.

Matt heads into the side room as Nicky starts wringing his hands. Aaron hasn't budged. Matt sighs and sits on the makeshift bed beside him. He feels his forehead. He's burning up. Matt wonders how long he's had this fever and hasn't mentioned it. He goes to the kitchen and gets a rag and soaks it in cold water before heading back to Aaron and putting it over his forehead. He doubts that it helps much, but he doesn't know what else to do…

A little while later, Andrew, Neil, and Kevin all show up and pile into the small side room. Andrew's face is carefully blank, Neil is frowning, but Kevin is the only one who looks genuinely worried. “How long?” Andrew asks.

“Since last night,” Matt says. “I tried to tell him to take it easy, but he wouldn't listen.”

“What's wrong with him?” Neil asks.

“Fever for sure,” Matt says. “He's been coughing, too, and sniffling.”

“Maybe he just had a cold?” Kevin says, but he doesn't sound confident.

“Since when does a cold make someone pass out?” Matt asks. He sighs and finds Aaron’s hand and holds it tightly. “Everyone is on the way. I'm afraid he has the same thing that's making all these kids sick…”

“But it hasn't been affecting adults,” Kevin says. “Or if it has, we don't know about it…”

“I don't know,” Matt says with a shrug. “I really don't.”

“Who else is here?” Neil asks, frowning. He puts his hand on the wall where Matt knows one of the wards was placed. “Aaron did something to my ward…”

“Oh, Jean,” Matt says. “I guess he used to be a Raven? But now he's a Trojan with Jeremy.” Matt doesn't quite understand all that that entails, but he isn't going to start asking now. He feels Andrew's magic flare. It's like a wave of sparks, prickly hot and inherently dangerous.

“Why is he here?” Andrew demands.

“He’s a green mage,” Matt says. “He was helping Aaron with the medicine. They got a lot of it made today, enough to clear off the list and have some left over.”

Andrew narrows his eyes at Matt, then glares down at his brother. He turns and stomps out of the room. Neil follows him, but Kevin stays behind. He frowns down at the both of them. Matt can smell copper and dirt and guesses Matt must be trying to use his magick to puzzle out a solution.

“I take it Jean doesn't know how to craft a medicine for Aaron?” Kevin asks. Matt shakes his head. “Well, hopefully, the others will be here soon.” He walks away, and Matt can hear him going up the stairs, likely to get Aristotle and take him outside.

Matt just keeps holding Aaron’s hand and wetting the cloth on his forehead when it needs it. He has no idea how much time passes before he hears other people start to arrive. Renee, Jeremy, and Abby all come into the little side room at the same time. Abby seems out of place among all of these magick people, Matt thinks, but only until he sees her and Renee talking to each other like old friends.

“Can you help him?” Matt asks.

“We will do our best,” Abby says, rubbing his arm reassuringly. “Can you move him up to his room for us? We need a little more space to work in.” Matt nods and stands. He gathers Aaron up carefully and holds him close to his chest. He goes slowly, so he doesn't jostle him too much as they go.

Aaron’s room is at the end of the hall. It's large, but it has almost nothing in it aside from his bed and his dresser and a small table beside the bed. There is a small potted plant on the window sill that Aaron takes great care with, but that's all. Matt lays him down carefully on one side of his wide bed.

“Thank you, Matt,” Abby says softly. “Now, I'm going to have to ask you to go downstairs. We need to figure out exactly what's wrong and see if there's anything we can do to help him. It will take a while.”

Matt wants to protest, but he also doesn't want to be in the way. “Just...promise me you'll come get me when he wakes up. Please.”

Renee nods and smiles. “Of course.” Matt nods and takes one last long look at Aaron before heading downstairs.

\--

“I'm afraid it might be exactly what those children have,” Abby says as she sits down at the kitchen table with Matt and Nicky. She's just finished washing her hands. Nicky gives her a cup of tea, and she nods her thanks. “He's been exhausting himself, so his body was already weak…”

“Aaron was making medicine for the kids,” Matt says slowly. “Isn't there a way one of you can make a stronger version of it for him?”

Abby frowns. “I'm afraid it isn't quite that simple. Children's bodies are different, especially the very young ones. They can't handle certain things, while adult bodies are almost entirely immune to the effects of certain herbs. Renee spoke to Jean earlier, and he's been out there this whole time attempting to create something. Healing potions were never his strong point, though. He was only ever taught to make poisons. But he is trying. Jeremy is out there with him now.”

“Why not Renee?” Matt asks with a frown. “Isn't she supposed to know, like, everything?”

Abby gives him a small, indulgent smile. “She knows a little bit about all of the magicks, yes, but she doesn't know much about herb lore.”

“So there's nothing we can do right now,” Nicky says.

Abby presses her lips together. “We've managed to bring down his fever a little, but that's all.” She shrugs apologetically. “I'm so sorry. I wish I could be more help. We just... don't even know what this sickness is, so that makes it incredibly difficult to treat.”

Matt buries his head in his hands. “Can I at least go up there now?”

“Yes, of course,” Abby says softly. Nicky starts asking her other questions as Matt makes his way upstairs. He feels almost like he's in a fog as he climbs the stairs. He can smell wet, damp earth and moss and the distinct smell of mountain flowers. He knows that's the smell of Aaron’s magick - that's what the greenhouse always smells like, after all, but he can't understand why he smells it now.

When he gets to Aaron’s room, the smell is even stronger. It's almost like he's in the greenhouse instead. The little plant by the window sill has grown to twice its original size. Matt lays down on the bed beside Aaron and takes his hand. They've changed his clothes, he sees. Aaron's wearing just a tee shirt now and a pair of cotton pants. Matt kicks off his shoes and curls up as close to Aaron as he can get. He takes a deep breath and exhales slowly.

“Aaron,” he whispers, “stop trying to feed everything your magic. It's okay. You don't have to.” He does another deep breath and exhales slowly once again. This time, he can smell water - the fresh spring kind he would smell on camping trips with his mom to the mountains. He's never smelled his own magick before. It's interesting. He keeps up the deep, slow breaths and focusing on Aaron and, eventually, the intense green smell fades some.

The high spots of color on Aaron’s cheeks fade a little. Matt feels his forehead and finds he isn't burning up quite as bad. Matt pulls him a little closer and keeps trying to pull at the magick Renee has taught him to feel for inside of himself. It isn't easy, but he manages. He focuses it all on Aaron and making him better in whatever way he can, even if he has no aptitude for healing. He does this until he drops off to sleep a while later.

\--

Aaron feels horrible. He doesn't want to open his eyes, but the feeling of someone else in his bed is what makes him do it. He is surprised to find Matt sleeping so close to him. He knows he's sick, so why would Matt risk himself like this? He reaches out and pokes Matt's arm until his eyes open, and he jerks a little.

“Aaron!” Matt looks overjoyed and relieved. “You're awake!”

“Why are you right here?” Aaron asks. His voice comes out scratchy. He clears his throat, but he knows, somehow, that that isn't going to help. “You'll get sick.”

“Abby thinks you only got sick because you'd pushed yourself so hard, so you were already weak,” Matt says softly. “I doubt I'll catch it, and if I do, I'll have got it way before now.” Aaron frowns at that, but he doesn't say anything. “They are all still working on something to make you better… Do you have any medicine for adults?”

Aaron shakes his head. “I don't even have the right plants anymore. I got rid of them all.” He turns his head into the pillow to cough. “It's complicated, too.”

“If you tell me how to do it, I can write it down and give it to Jean,” Matt says. “He could make it for you.”

Aaron closes his eyes for a moment. He doubts he'd be able to get through the entire explanation. He's too tired. When he opens his eyes, he reaches out, and Matt takes his hand.

“My Grimoire,” he says, then coughs. Matt waits patiently. “It's in the greenhouse. Look under the third planter box. There is a small wooden box. The book is at the bottom. Get it and bring it to me.”

Matt nods and squeezes his hand. “I won't read it.”

Aaron smiles just a little. “Thank you.” He closes his eyes. “Wake me up when you come back,” he mumbles. He feels Matt press a kiss to his knuckles, and then the weight leaves the bed. He drifts into a weird, half-doze that's not entirely restful. He feels like all of his magick has been drained out of him, but he supposes that's his fault for using so much of it earlier to force the plants to grow.

He can even smell his magic leaching into the air, though, so perhaps it is this weird sickness that's making him feel this way? He can't seem to stop it. He doesn't intend to fall totally asleep again, but he cannot remain awake any longer…

Until he feels Matt’s cool touch to his hand and forehead. He can feel his magick come back to him, and even feel some of Matt's magic pour into him. He has no idea when or where Matt learned to do something like that, but he is grateful for it. Matt sits beside him and pulls him upright, wrapping his arms around Aaron’s body. That alone seems to help hold the magick in.

“Thanks,” Aaron slurs.

“Why is this happening?” Matt asks. He sounds frightened and worried.

“Dunno.” Aaron peels open his eyes. “Book?” Matt places it in Aaron's lap. He opens it towards the middle and starts flipping through the pages, looking for a certain one. Once he finds it, he rips it out and hands it to Matt, then closes the book and shoves it under his pillow. He has to find a new hiding place for it now, but that's okay.

“What do I do with this?” Matt asks.

“Give it to Jean,” Aaron says. He takes a long, deep breath. “He’ll know.” If he's a good a mage as Renee said, he'll be able to find Aaron’s stash of seeds, grow the right plants, dry them, and mix up the right potion for him by tomorrow afternoon.

“Okay,” Matt says softly. “What about your magick? I don't want to leave you alone…”

“Get Nicky,” Aaron says. “Or Andrew or anyone.”

Matt bows over until his head is pressed to Aaron's shoulder. He twists his head to the side to kiss Aaron’s cheek. “How do I leave some of my magick behind to keep you safe?”

“Dunno,” Aaron sighs. “That's not what I do. I'm only good at making potions.”

Matt nips at his ear. “You're good at far more than that,” he says, “but I'm not arguing with you right now. Do you have one of Nicky's rocks? If I can give my magick to you, I can give my magick to it, right?”

Aaron just shrugs. He's dizzy again, and he can't quite wrangle his thoughts into any sort of working order. Matt lays him down gently on his side, and Aaron curls up around one of his pillows before another coughing fit overtakes him. Matt lets him go, and he can feel his magick start to drain away again. He doesn't understand it.

Matt comes back almost instantly. Aaron forces his eyes open. He sees his little peppermint plant now on the small table by his bed. It was the first plant he ever convinced to grow. He's kept it close for years, and despite it being sorely mistreated when he was much younger, it never died. He's taken pieces of it and replanted them in his greenhouse, but this original stays safe in his room.

He watches as Matt puts his fingers around one of the delicate little stems, just under a pale blue bloom. Aaron can smell fresh spring water, unlike anything he's ever smelled before. It smells wonderful… He looks at Matt's face and watches as he concentrates on the tiny plant, pouring his magick into it. Aaron almost tells him to stop. That is his precious plant, his first success. But he doesn't. He can't.

Matt finally lets go of the peppermint stem. He looks at Aaron and gently, slowly, releases his grip. Aaron takes a breath. His magick doesn't begin to flow out of him. He closes his eyes and coughs. Matt rubs his back in slow, steady circles until he can breathe again.

“I'm going to give this to Jean,” Matt says. “I'll be back as soon as I can.” Aaron nods a little. The moment he hears the door shut, he drifts back to sleep, but not because his magick is sucking the life out of him.

\--

Matt jogs down the stairs and bursts into the kitchen with the page from Aaron’s Grimoire. “Where’s Jean?” he asks. Almost everyone is clustered in the kitchen, picking at food and sipping tea.

“In the greenhouse,” Jeremy says. “Why?”

“Aaron gave me this,” Matt says. He passes Jeremy the page. Jeremy scans it, and his eyes grow wide.

“This...this is the medicine! How?”

“Aaron had me get his grimoire thing,” Matt says. “He tore this page out and told me to give it to Jean, that he should be able to make that.”

Renee stands. “Let's go give it to him and help him if we can.”

Matt shakes his head. “You guys go. I have to go back to Aaron. Whatever is making him sick is messing with his magick, too. I went upstairs earlier, and I could smell it everywhere. It's like when he was forcing the plants to grow, except there was nothing for him to put the magick into so it was just going everywhere. I stopped it, somehow, but the second I let go of him, it started again.”

Renee frowns. “Is he still like that now?”

“I put a bunch of my magick into the plant in his room and moved it by his bed. It was working to hold in Aaron’s magick when I left. But I don't know for how long.”

Renee and Abby share a look that Matt can't interpret. Nicky waves Matt away. “Get back up there. Jeremy, take that to Jean and shout if you need anything at all. I'll get it. I'm going to make a binding spell. Maybe that can help -”

“No,” Abby says quickly. “This...this isn't something a binding spell will work with. I'll come with you, Matt. Renee, I think it best if you help Jeremy and Jean with that medicine as soon as possible.”

Renee nods. “Please get me if you need me for anything.” Abby nods.

“Come on, Matt, let's get back upstairs.” Abby leads the way this time, with Nicky and Matt trailing behind her.

“What's going on?” Nicky asks. “How can being sick affect his magick like that? It doesn't make sense.”

Abby glances at him over her shoulder. “Because this isn't an ordinary sickness. Someone has caused this.”

Matt feels the first spark of anger ignite deep in his core. “Who would do that? And why?”

“Aaron has been helping so many people!” Nicky shouts. “Why would anyone want to hurt him?”

“Because they weren't trying to hurt him.” Matt jerks his head to the side. They'd just reached the top of the stairs that let out into a wide, open space that was filled with a lot of soft, old furniture. It served as their living room. Neil and Andrew are standing in front of the low table by the couches.

“What…?” Nicky doesn't finish his question, just steps closer to them slowly. Matt follows.

“They thought they were attacking Andrew,” Neil says. Matt rarely hears his voice so flat.

“We found a dead fox earlier,” Andrew says darkly.

Nicky makes a strangled noise. Matt wrinkles his eyebrows. “What is that supposed to mean?”

“Our coven is the Fox coven,” Neil says. “A dead fox is symbolic, don't you think?” Matt nods.

“The fox had a knife buried in its heart.” Andrew looks at Neil. “We think it is a message from Neil’s father.”

“He isn't a mage,” Neil says, his voice still flat and dull. “He kills them.”

“Ever heard of the Butcher of Baltimore?” Andrew asks.

Matt frowns. “The serial killer?” Neil nods once. “But… Baltimore is hundreds of miles from here. Why come here? And why use magic to kill a mage if he hates magick so much? How did he get it in the first place?”

“He hates mages, not magick,” Neil says. “He wants magick for himself, but if you aren't born with it…” Matt nods. If a person isn't born with magick, they will never have it. “He uses what he can. Charms and other things he can buy or steal.”

“So he meant to attack Andrew, but got Aaron instead?” Matt asks. Andrew nods. “But why? What's the point in attacking you?”

“Because I protect his son. If I am out of the way, he can get to Neil and kill him.” Andrew shrugs. “If he gets close, I will kill him.”

“Not if I get to him first,” Matt mumbles. He turns away. “I have to go check on Aaron.” Abby hadn't stayed for the drama. She'd gone straight to Aaron. Matt can smell a little of Aaron’s magick, but it isn't nearly as bad as it was before.

“Can you smell it?” he asks Abby. She nods. “Do you know how to stop it?”

“Show me what you were doing,” she says instead. Matt guesses that she doesn't quite know. He obliges her mostly because Aaron needs it. He grasps Aaron’s hand in his own, and he takes several deep, slow breaths. He thinks about the ocean. He's only ever been a couple of times, but he remembers the push and pull of the waves. He focuses on the push more than the pull. His intentions are focused on Aaron and making him better in general, nothing specific. He hopes it's enough.

The green smell fades again, leaving behind only Matt’s magick. He sighs when he's finished and looks over at Abby, but refuses to let go of Aaron’s hand. Abby comes closer and rests the back of her hand on Aaron’s forehead. She hums softly and backs off a little.

“We've assumed this was a normal sickness,” Abby says softly. “It might have started that way, but something else is there as well, waiting for Aaron to be weak enough to lose his control over his magick. When that happens, it starts to go everywhere.” She pauses and looks over at the closed door. “We're lucky, in a way, that it's Aaron’s magick and not Andrew’s. Andrew's magick has the potential to hurt people if it gets out of control - which, I'm sure, was the intention.” She presses her lips tightly together.

Matt sighs. “So what do we do?” He reaches over and brushes some of Aaron’s hair away from his face. It's gotten long, a lot longer than Andrew’s. They're getting easier and easier to tell apart, not that Matt ever had too much of a problem after he started really paying attention to them anyway…

“We have to fight the illness,” Abby says, “that's no question. However, we also have to keep a close eye on Aaron to make sure we can keep his magick under control. It's dangerous to let too much of it get away from him.”

“But making him better won't necessarily get rid of whatever is messing with his magick, will it?” Matt asks. Abby shakes her head. “Then what do we do to fix his magick?”

“We can worry about that once he's better,” Abby says, trying to be gentle. “The curse is only working because he is weak from the illness. Once he is better, the curse will weaken, and we can find a way to break it.”

“Is it?” Matt asks. He shakes his head. “A curse, I mean.”

Abby shrugs. “That's my current assumption.”

“What can I do?” Matt asks. He squeezes Aaron’s hand, wishing he could see those soft hazel eyes that are almost closer to brown than gold.

“Since you can help keep his magick in control, stay with him.” Abby moves to the door. “I expect you might be the only one. Nicky might be able to help. We’ll have to see.”

“I'll stay right here,” Matt whispers. Abby leaves the room. He does get up to move to the empty side of the bed. He sheds a few layers as he goes, leaving himself in his undershirt and jeans alone. He'd lose the jeans, too, but he's sure others will be in and out of the room.

He's still tired, even after his nap earlier. It might have something to do with all the magick stuff. He doesn't know for sure, but he's ready for more sleep regardless. He lays on the bed and tugs Aaron to his chest, wrapping his arms around him securely. He can feel Aaron’s heartbeat through his back. It's nice. He drops off to sleep after barely a minute.

\--

When Aaron wakes, he's warm - very warm. He blinks open his eyes and realizes someone is holding him. He twists his head back and the arm thrown over his stomach moves. Matt smiles sleepily at him, then yawns.

Aaron scrunches his nose up. “Your morning breath is terrible.”

Matt laughs and hides his face in Aaron’s hair. “So’s yours,” he says, his voice rough from disuse. Something strangely warm settles in Aaron's chest at the sound. “Feeling any better?”

“A little,” Aaron whispers. He turns his head back to his pillow to cough again and sighs when he's done. “I think the fever is down, at least.”

Matt wraps both arms around Aaron and pulls him even closer in a warm hug. “Good. Any progress is good progress.” He releases his hold some but doesn't take his arms away.

Aaron rolls over to his other side, making Matt move his arms away. “I gotta piss,” he says flatly. “And I need a shower.”

“Wait,” Matt says, reaching out for Aaron’s hand before he climbs off the bed. “So this illness isn't what's messing with your magick.” He frowns. “Abby thinks it's a curse. Andrew and Neil believe that it was Neil’s father that put it on you. They said that he probably assumed you were Andrew…”

Aaron sighs. He considered the shit with the love potion enough of a curse. But this is something else entirely. “So what are they doing to break it?”

“I don't know,” Matt answers. “Abby said they had to focus on making you well first. Because you're weak from being sick, you have less control over your magick, and that's what makes the curse worse. I don't know how it will be once you aren't sick anymore.”

“Why isn't my magick doing that weird shit now?” Aaron asks. He feels a good bit better than he did before. He has no idea what time it is now, but surely it's the next day. All he really knows is that his magick isn't leaking out all over the place like it was before.

“I don't know how, but I've been stopping your magick from going everywhere by touching you…” Matt rubs his thumb over Aaron’s knuckles. “It's like...like I can feel it? I don't know.” He sighs, frustrated. “I don't know enough about any of this to explain it or whatever.”

Aaron frowns at him. “Well you can't hold my hand forever,” he grumbles. “And I have to pee.” He pulls his hand away and rolls off the bed. He's a little dizzy when he stands, but it isn't quite as bad as it was the day before. Maybe all the rest helped. Surely that's what he needed…

He leaves Matt behind and wanders out of his room down the hall to the bathroom. He pees and washes his hands, then decides a shower is probably a good idea - the steam will help with his stuffed-up nose at least, and probably ease his sore throat a little. He wishes he had some of his other useful plants down in his greenhouse, but it would take far too much effort right now to head down there and force something to grow…

While he waits for the water to warm, he heads over to the small window and the few pots there. He has a vine of Avant-Garde clematis around the window and tacked up over the ceiling so that it spreads prettily to cover Andrew’s and Neil’s protection circle painted up there. There are pots of lavender on the floor by the sink and tub and tiny pots of foxglove, belladonna, Oleander, wolfsbane, and wild arum. He doesn't keep many poisonous plants, but they are useful sometimes, and he's kept these few in perfect condition since the mess with Riko went down…

He showers slowly, feeling worse the longer he stays in there. The warm, wet smell of earth and grass and green things fills the room. It's his magick… He braces one arm on the wall, letting the water cascade over his head. He breathes deeply and tries to focus on his magick, tries to bring it back to himself, but that only seems to make things worse. He cuts off the water and nearly falls flat on his face as he climbs out of the big claw-foot tub. He manages to wrap a towel around his waist and make his way to the sink.

Something brushes against his shoulder and his leg. He looks up first, jerking to the side. The clematis has spread and dropped down away from the tacks that hold the rest of it to the ceiling. When he looks down, he finds that the lavender has overgrown its pot as well. The tiny pots on the sill are full to bursting as well. He curses under his breath, but he leans his hip against the counter by the sink and grabs his toothbrush. Fuck this curse, he's still going to brush his damn teeth.

Someone knocks on the bathroom door. Aaron spits out the toothpaste in his mouth. “What?” he snaps.

“We can all smell your magick.” It's Nicky. “I just wanted to make sure you were still conscious.”

“Go away,” Aaron groans. He goes back to brushing his teeth angrily. He doubts Nicky actually goes anywhere, but he doesn't really care. He finishes with his teeth, then shuffles around the bathroom to finish up.

Once he's done, he opens the door to find Nicky standing right there waiting for him. Nicky’s eyes go wide at the sight of all the plants. “Shit,” he mutters.

“Shut up,” Aaron snaps back. “I know. I tried to control it, and it got fucking worse.”

Nicky frowns. “Let's get you back to your room,” he says softly. He offers his arm to Aaron, but Aaron ignores it and slaps a hand to the wall when he stumbles. “Aaron let me help you, please.”

“No.” Aaron shoves open his door and slams it in Nicky's face. Matt is gone, but he doesn't care. He shuffles over to his dresser and slowly tugs on clean clothes. By the time he makes it back to his bed, he's got black spots in his eyes, and everything is swimming. His little peppermint plant has overgrown its pot and is drooping badly - it needs water, but he has none to give it. He turns to go back to the bathroom to get a cup of water for it, but he doesn't make it more than a step before the world vanishes from under his feet.

\--

Matt sighs into his tea and looks across the table at Renee. She looks exhausted. Apparently, she, Jeremy, and Jean stayed up all night working on the medicine for Aaron. Jeremy and Jean are trying to finish it now so that it will be ready this afternoon. He wants it to be ready now. 

Nicky flops into the chair beside Matt. “Well he's grumpy as shit, and all the plants in the bathroom are going to need repotting.” He makes a face and props his chin up with his fist, his elbow on the table by his abandoned plate of eggs. “He wouldn't let me help him at all.” 

“Nicky, perhaps you can gather some specific stones for me. Quartz, bloodstone, amethyst, jet, black tourmaline, and amber. I've already called Allison. She's coming with the precious stones: lapis lazuli, sapphire, ruby, diamond, even a snowflake obsidian…” She presses her lips together and folds her hands around her mug. “I'd like to try something, in a little while, but it will require all of us together and a lot of patience.” 

“I'll get what I have,” Nicky says. He stands and puts his arm on Matt's shoulder. “I left some quartz and amethyst in Aaron’s room already. I thought it might help a little, but I'm not sure.”

Matt looks to Renee as Nicky heads into the shop. It's been closed for the day. “What are the stones for?” 

“Quartz is sort of a balancing stone. It boosts the properties of the stones around it, but on its own, it's good for power and protection, harmony and energy.” She takes a sip of her tea and shifts to face Matt. “The Bloodstone also works well with others. It's good for healing and detoxification and purification. The black tourmaline is a protection stone. It's said to help prevent magickal draining. I'm hoping that one will help with Aaron’s current problem. Amber is energizing in general and increases power, so I'm hoping that it might boost either our magick, Aaron’s, or the potential of the other stones. Goldstone is simple: it helps one focus and achieve their goals. Amethyst is another booster of sorts, in that it supports other magick and stones, but it is well suited to our current purpose. Jet is supposed to be powerful for protection and purification.”

Matt takes all of this in for a moment, trying to remember it all but doubting he will. He wishes he could write it down. “So you think it's some kind of curse too, don't you?” 

Renee shrugs slightly. “It's some sort of outside force working against him. As to what it is, specifically, I won't venture a guess. There are too many other factors at play at the moment.”

“It seems like you're just throwing together everything you can think of to fight this.”

Renee smiles a little, but it isn't a particularly happy expression. “Yes, I suppose I am.”

“Who is Allison?” Matt asks. “What does she do?”

“Allison is a dear friend of mine,” Renee says softly. “She reads tarot and interprets dreams and other things. Many people don't believe in her, but she's had more than a few psychic visions. The trouble is that they are often misleading or disjointed so that they don't make sense until the events occur.”

Matt frowns. “That sounds like a pain in the ass.”

“Allison would agree with you there,” she says with a soft chuckle. “I'm going to go see how Jeremy and Jean are faring. Why don't you go check on Aaron?”

Matt nods and stands up. He fixes a mug of tea and grabs a glass of water for Aaron. He doesn't know if he wants to eat anything, but if he does, he'll come back for something. He carries them upstairs and knocks on the closed door. When he doesn't get a response, he opens it anyway.

He nearly drops both the mug and the glass when he sees Aaron collapsed on the floor. He rushes over to the little table and puts both of them down before kneeling and scooping Aaron up and holding him close to his chest. He lifts him and sits on the bed, just holding him close and trying desperately to focus on his magick and give some to Aaron. He isn't sure if it's working or not. The green smell is so strong it's making him lightheaded. 

After a few minutes, he stands and lies Aaron down properly. He moves around to the other side of the bed, much like he did last night, but he doesn't lay down. Instead, he sits against the headboard. He sits close to Aaron and run his fingers through his hair again and again and holds Aaron’s hand. He tries to think about making Aaron feel better again like he did the night before, but the green smell doesn't seem to fade any. 

A while later, Nicky comes in the room. He has a small bag in his hands. He frowns at Matt. “What happened?”

“I found him on the floor. He hasn't woken up. I don't know what to do. He seemed like he felt better this morning, but now he's so much worse…” Matt rubs his hand up and down Aaron's arm, frowning. 

“I’ll go get Renee,” Nicky says softly. He sets the little bag on the dresser, and it clanks, so Matt guesses it has the rocks Renee asked for inside. He comes over to the bed and takes up Aaron’s other hand, giving it a gentle squeeze. “We’ll make sure he's better.” Matt doesn't respond, and Nicky leaves quietly.

\--

Aaron is so tired of waking up and not quite remembering what happened just before he was asleep. He remembers the shower, but nothing else after that. He groans as he rolls over and curls up. His chest and throat hurt from coughing. The rest of him just feels drained of everything, like it's too much effort for his body to keep pumping blood through his veins. 

“Hey.” He doesn't open his eyes, but he recognizes Matt’s voice. He feels Matt’s hand on his hand and then his arm, shoulder, and back. 

“What happened?” Aaron’s voice is scratchy, and his words are a little slurred. 

“You passed out again,” Matt says softly, his fingers brushing through Aaron's hair. “Renee and the others came up here and did some stuff. I don't really know what. I...I don't understand.” He sighs, and Aaron feels a puff of breath on his forehead just before Matt kisses him there. “Jean and Jeremy finished up the medicine. They have it downstairs. Do you want it now?” 

Aaron nods then has to turn his face into his pillow to cough. His breathing is harsh, and it hurts on each inhale and exhale. His lungs feel like they're burning and full of liquid at the same time. “What about the shit with my magick?” He can only whisper, his voice is so mangled from coughing. 

“It should be okay for a little while,” Matt says, his fingers brushing through Aaron’s hair again. Aaron will never admit it, but it feels so nice… “Whatever Renee and everyone else did seems to have helped a lot. No one knows how long it will last, but we're hoping it will be a while - at the very least, long enough for you to start feeling better.” 

Aaron nods a little and curls tighter around the pillow he has clutched to his chest. “Go get it, then. Don't wanna feel like this.” Ever since Aaron started to learn what his magick could really do, he's never been very sick aside from a mild cold, and even that he could take care of fairly quickly. He despises feeling so weak and pathetic. After Andrew had forced him to detox from his mother's drugs, he'd sworn to himself he'd never allow himself to be so weak ever again… This feels like his fucking dying - and he doesn't care if that's being over dramatic (especially not when Nicky claims he's dying every time he gets a mild stomachache). 

Matt squeezes his hand, and Aaron feels the bed shift. He listens as Matt walks across the room and opens the door. “Oh. Hey, Andrew. He just woke up. I'm gonna go get the medicine…”

Aaron forces himself to open his eyes and roll over to face his brother. “What?” he croaks. Andrew shuts the door behind himself and stands against the wall with his arms crossed over his chest. 

“We're planning something, Neil, Renee, Kevin, and I.” Andrew narrows his eyes a little. “Nicky will stay here with you and Matt. We've asked Allison and Jeremy’s coven to assist us.” 

“What?” Aaron asks and hopes Andrew knows what he's asking. 

“I will not allow this bastard to continue to come after us,” Andrew says lowly. “We are going after him, and we will take him down.” 

“Neil?” he asks, trying to form a smirk. It doesn't quite work, and he ends up in another coughing fit anyway. 

Andrew waits until Aaron has caught his breath and settled some. “He thinks we're all going to die, but when does he not?” Andrew snorts. “I will not let that bastard get away with this.”

Aaron rolls his eyes. “Better me than you.” 

“No.” Andrew narrows his eyes. “If it had been me, I never would have gotten so sick. You would have made sure of that.” He lowers his arms and shoves his fists into his pockets. “I would have been able to keep control.” 

“I'm not weak,” Aaron spits, feeling bitter and angry. “Get out.” Andrew just stares at him for a moment, then he closes his eyes and turns to leave, leaving the door cracked just a hair behind himself. Just to be spiteful, Aaron forces his body to move so that he's sitting upright against the headboard, even if that little bit of movement leaves him flushed and out of breath. He's coughing again when Matt comes back into the room.

Matt says nothing until Aaron can stop. Every breath after is a wheeze, but there's nothing he can do for that right now. He looks at Matt and holds out his hand for the glass of disgusting-looking shit that Jean has apparently deemed medicine. Aaron only now remembers that be never added into his grimoire the last few touches to the brew - it isn't much, nothing to affect the medicinal quality, but it makes it taste and look a hell of a lot better. He grimaces at the smell but drinks it down as quickly as he can.

“How much did they make,” Aaron asks as he hands the glass back to Matt. 

“There’s still some left,” Matt says. He shrugs a little and adds, “Maybe enough for two more glasses?” 

“Tell them to make more,” Aaron sighs. “Just in case.” Matt nods, but he doesn't turn to leave right away. Instead, he passes over a mug that he was holding in his other hand.

“It's eucalyptus,” Matt says softly. “Renee said it should help a little with the cough and stuff.” Aaron nods and takes a sip. His eyes widen at the unexpected, yet pleasant, hint of sweetness. He glances up at Matt. “I added some honey. I know you like it.” He smiles a little and reaches up to scratch the side of his neck.

“Thanks,” Aaron whispers. He takes another sip and settles a little. His throat feels a little better already. “Have you been back to your apartment at all?”

Matt shakes his head. “Didn't wanna leave, ya know?” He sits on the edge of the bed by Aaron’s calves and puts one hand on Aaron’s knee. “I did call my mom, though. She's worried about you too.” He smiles a little. “She threatened to come here herself, but she really can't go too far in the snow with her cast and all.” 

“I'll be fine,” Aaron mutters. He keeps sipping at the tea, enjoying the way it soothes his throat. He looks down at the mug. “You should go home.” 

Matt takes his hand away. They sit in silence for a long moment. “I will if you want me to,” Matt finally says, “but I'd rather stay.” 

“You don't have to anymore,” Aaron snaps. “I'm not gonna die or some shit. They fixed my magick, and now I have the right potion, so just - just fucking leave.” He ducks his head and curls in on himself. 

Aaron feels the bed shift when Matt stands. “I wasn't here because I thought I had to be,” he says, his voice low and gentle. “I was here because you were sick and I was worried about you.” And fuck, but Aaron knows he isn't lying. He hates him for that. Matt is quiet for a long moment, but he still doesn't leave. Aaron refuses to look at him. “Can I at least come back?” Aaron nods once. “Okay. I'll be back, then.”

Matt leaves, and Aaron drains the last of the tea. He puts the mug on the table by his bed and is surprised to see just how big his peppermint plant has gotten. He touches the soil with his fingers and is surprised to find it damp. Someone had watered it for him. He touches the leaves with his fingertips. He can feel Matt’s magick still in the plant. 

He doesn't understand why Matt would stick around. Surely he has better things to do than wait around for - what, two days? Yeah, Matt was there to help Aaron with his magick, but surely someone else would have been able to help, too. And even if not, could losing all of his magick really kill him? He didn't know. He'd say it wouldn't matter, except people expected things from him: they needed his lotions and potions, his teas and other small remedies. He was there for people when no one else was, many times… Katelyn had been the one to show him the importance in that.

He still misses her. He doubts he will ever not miss her. The fucked-up love potion might have gotten her attention and started things between them, but their relationship wouldn't have lasted unless she'd really loved him. He would have had to continue to give it to her. He knew that before he made the damn thing, but at the time, he'd thought it was worth it… How wrong he'd been.

And yet, now he has Matt. Brought together by yet another fucking love potion. At least one wasn't actually made this time. He doesn't know why he made Matt leave, not really. He's angry at himself, angry at Andrew for insinuating that he was weak, angry that he's sick and has no control over his own magick. He hasn't lacked this sort of control since he was nine - when he could walk down the street and everything in a five-foot radius would begin to bloom or grow. 

He can't say that he loves Matt, not yet, but he still wants him around. He's been gone for less than five minutes, and already Aaron wants to tell him to come back and keep him warm. He flops down on his side, away from the headboard. It's a little awkward, and he's stretched out the wrong way over the bed, but he doesn't exactly care. He'll be left alone for a while now. 

He stares at the wall, coughing every now and again. He wants something to do, but he can't even hold his head up without it pounding away painfully behind his eyes. Nicky comes in a while later with some soup and something to ease his headache as well. 

“How are you feeling?” Nicky asks, sitting on the foot of the bed after Aaron has managed to drag himself into sitting upright again. 

“Like shit.” Aaron takes the water first and drinks some of it, then he takes the bowl of soup. “Everyone leave already?”

Nicky nods. “Jean said he left the plants for the next batch growing. He's hoping they'll be nice and big by the time they get back, but who knows how long it will take…” 

“Where did they have to go?”

“Baltimore.”

“Fuck.” Aaron drinks a little of the soup. “I guess that's where everything's going down then?” Nicky nods. “Surprised you didn't go with them.”

Nicky shrugs a little. “I wanted to stay.” He fiddles with his fingers for a moment. “Someone has to be here to make sure you're all right, and I'm not so great in fights like the one they're planning anyway…”

Aaron snorts, though it makes him cough some. “Tell that to the Raven bitch you snared in that binding circle.” 

Nicky shrugs. “Traps are different. Defense is more my style.” He smiles a little. “Erik wrote back. He says he might be able to visit for the winter solstice.” 

Aaron nods a little. He and Erik hadn't gotten along very well at all at first, not least because Nicky had left him with Tilda - left him alone with his pain and with no one to go to for help. He hadn't understood what was going on with Nicky at Luther's house, though, and once he did, his anger had fizzled out into guilt and shame. Then Andrew had come. Nicky came back when he found out about Tilda’s death, offered to care for the twins until they were older, but then things kept snowballing and Nicky never quite got the chance to go back to California to be with Erik. 

Aaron swallows another spoonful of soup. “Sounds good.”

Nicky smiles brightly, but it fades fast. “Aaron…” He looks down at his hands in his lap where he's twisting his fingers together again. “Why did you make Matt leave?”

Aaron almost chokes on his soup. He coughs hard enough for Nicky to have to reach over and take the bowl away from him before he spills it. He drinks some water when he's finally settled. “Because he hasn't left in two days.” It's Aaron's turn to look down at his lap. “He needed to go home.”

“I mean, I can understand him running home to grab a change of clothes or whatever, but…” Nicky sighs. “Why don't you want him here? He's just worried about you. He wants to be around to make sure you're okay. Wouldn't you want to do the same for him?”

Aaron sneers. “I wouldn't spend two fucking days up his ass the whole fucking time.” He draws his knees up to his chest and wraps his arms around his legs. “I don't need to be babysat. I'm not a fucking child. And I'm not weak.”

Nicky is silent for a moment, but Aaron refuses to look at him to see what's on his face. “No one has ever said that,” Nicky says softly. “No one thinks you're weak. And we aren't trying to babysit you, either. Fuck’s sake, Aaron, you are sick, and we want to take care of you! Is that such a bad thing? You do the same for us.”

“I make shit for you,” Aaron mutters back. “I don't sit there and hold your fucking hand the entire time.”

“Okay. Did you not see what you did to the plants in the bathroom? Jean went ahead and pruned them all back for us, and I told him he could keep what he cut away from the poisonous ones, since he went with them to Baltimore and all, but fuck, Aaron, they were all overgrowing their pots - just like your peppermint there!” Nicky reaches over and shoves Aaron’s leg. “Matt had to stick close to you or our whole fucking house would be a plant. I don't want to live in a plant, okay?” Aaron rolls his eyes at Nicky’s flair for dramatics. 

“Listen, okay?” Nicky says, his voice shifting to soft but serious. “I talked to Renee before she left. Allison was here, and she tried to get a read on whatever they did to you. So you know how it's possible to toss someone in a circle and bleed their magick out of them and into a stone, right?” Aaron nods. “Well, whatever they did to you is just like that. The problem is, you don't have to be in their circle, and we can't figure out how that's working. Allison says she'll do her best to figure it out when she gets back, but she went with them too. She said you should be okay until they all return. Anyway, something is doing this on purpose, and the more you try to use your magick, the more this spell or curse or whatever will take from you.”

“We need to find whatever is holding my magick, then.” Aaron looks at Nicky, and he nods. 

“But it has to wait for now. You have to get better first. It's probably just coincidence that you got sick at the same time as this was put on you, but…”

“We don't believe in coincidences,” Aaron finishes for him. Nicky gives him a grim smile. 

“Anyway.” Nicky flaps a hand at him. “Back to Matt. I can't blame him for being here this whole time. If Erik had been in the same position, I'd have never left his side. The only reason I left yours was because Matt had it covered, and I was glad for it. You guys are happy together - don't try to tell me you aren't because I'll know you're lying - so why not just be happy? Let him come back and be here with you. You're a lot less grumpy when he's around, you know.”

Aaron scowls at Nicky, but he doesn't have an argument ready. Nicky smiles, and Aaron sighs. “Whatever. Go call him. I don't care.” He crosses his arms on top of his knees and rests his chin on them. “And I'm not grumpy.”

Nicky laughs as he stands up. “Yeah, you are, but I'm not gonna argue with you about that. Want me to grab anything for you while I'm gone?” 

“A couple of pens,” Aaron says. “And a blank notebook.” Nicky raises his eyebrows. “Matt wants to learn shit so why not start teaching him? And I need to add shit to my own Grimoire anyway.” 

Nicky smiles. “All right. At least it will pass the time, right?” Aaron shrugs and Nicky heads out of the room.

Maybe Aaron was more than a little unfair to Matt earlier. He can admit that now. It's not easy, though, liking Matt, not with the way he grew up around Tilda and Luther and Maria. It was hard enough having magick, when Luther hated it and forbid him from ever using it, but adding to that the way he'd always been attracted to both girls and boys? It was a nightmare. 

He'd heard Luther talk about how it was an ‘abomination’ for two men to be together, over and over. He and Nicky had never spoken about it. That was taboo, and he was still young when Nicky left, anyway. He'd just buried everything away until it couldn't hurt anyone. Then Andrew - and the shit with Tilda - and Nicky came back talking about his amazing boyfriend with no shame or guilt anymore, and Aaron hated him for that for so long. He hated how Nicky could be so open about everything when he'd been forced to hide everything away for so fucking long. But then he'd seen how happy Nicky was, and his anger slowly began to ebb. 

And then he'd met Katelyn, and he’d thought everything would be okay because no one would ever have to know. They'd been so, so happy… Until Kevin showed up - and later Neil. Then the Ravens had come, and everything good in Aaron’s life had fallen apart so quickly… He drank his grief away - much like Kevin drank his anxieties away. They'd gotten close, gotten drunk, wound up in a sloppy make-out session and Andrew found them. Then Aaron’s secret had been out. 

After that, Aaron had kept to himself. Then Matt had started to come around, and no matter how hard he tried not to, he couldn't help but look and want. And when he'd heard Matt was looking and wanting too… Something had broken inside him. He'd kissed Matt without even thinking about it. 

Now they were here, with Matt still coming around and laughing at Aaron’s grumpiness more than getting angry over, bringing him food or - on the few occasions when Aaron has had the time - even taking him out. It's been strange, and difficult at times, but Aaron still wants him back by his side, even though he was an asshole earlier…

\--

Matt is in the shower when he hears the phone ring. He’s worried it might be his mom - or Nicky because something has happened to Aaron - so he scrambles out of it and rushes towards the phone, clutching a towel to his waist.

“Hello?”

“Hey, Matt, it's Nicky.”

“Is everything okay?” he asks, worry bleeding through in his voice.

“Yeah, it's all okay here. Aaron’s had a little bit of soup, and we talked a bit. He wants you to come back over.” 

Matt pauses. “Are - are you sure? I mean, I don't wanna show up over there just to get kicked out again…” 

Nicky laughs a little. “I'm sure. He told me to call you. I wouldn't have if he didn't tell me I could - I know how he gets.” Nicky drops his voice to a conspiratorial almost-whisper. “Between you and me, he can be just as bad as Andrew when it comes to shit like that.” He laughs again, and Matt can't help but huff out something like a laugh himself.

“All right, well let me finish up here, and I'll head back over.” Matt pauses, then adds, “Give me an hour.”

“Pack some clothes,” Nicky says in a little sing-song voice. “Bye!” He hangs up before Matt can say anything else. Smiling a little, Matt hangs up and heads back to his shower. 

Once Matt’s finished getting everything crammed into a bag he usually takes with him to other cities for his fights, he locks up and heads down to the bakery just below his apartment. He grabs a big box of pastries and a bag of freshly ground coffee beans as well. Aaron never seems to have any coffee around, and Matt figures if he's going to be there any longer, he won't stay without it. 

The walk over to the shop doesn't take terribly long. He heads through the alley and unlatches the gate to head in from the back rather than go through the shop itself. He casts a longing look at the greenhouse and the curling bit of ivy still growing over the door. He wishes Aaron were in there working away like always, even if it meant he didn't get to spend as much time with him. 

He goes up the steps and knocks on the back door instead. He stands there for several minutes, just waiting for Nicky to come down. He finally tries the knob and finds it unlocked. He guesses Nicky must be upstairs with Aaron or something. Heading into the kitchen, he leaves the box and the little sack of coffee grounds on the table and heads towards the stairs. 

Then he hears a thump and a shout. He freezes, his eyes going wide. He drops his bag on the floor and kicks it under the table, then runs for the phone in the shop. The whole store has been tossed - things are knocked about and on the floor, broken or torn. He grabs the phone and calls Wymack.

“I need you to get to Nicky’s and Aaron’s now,” he demands quietly. 

“What's wrong?” Wymack asks.

“Someone's here.” Matt doesn't say more, just hangs up the receiver and moves on light feet to the stairs. Wymack and Abby don't live too far away. If they drive, they can be here in five minutes. 

He takes the stairs slowly, valuing secrecy over speed at this moment. He has no idea how many people might be upstairs and he needs to be able to take down as many as he can without them knowing he's there. The big room that serves as their living room is empty, but Matt can smell Aaron’s magick now - it's overwhelming. Panic makes his heart race until he forces himself to breathe and calm down. He can't afford to panic right now. 

He moves down the hall almost silently. He can hear people talking, but it sounds like there might be only two of them. He can work with that. He takes another deep breath and raises his fists, slipping into a defensive fighting stance, even as he edges forward. 

Aaron’s door is the only one that is open. He peeks in as much as he can without getting too close. There are only two, and both have their backs to him, but they are standing by Aaron’s bed. One of them has a book in their hands. The other is holding something else with one hand, but Matt can't see what it is. 

He inches forward even more. Nicky is on the floor, blood oozing from a cut on his forehead. It looks like he hit his head on the little table next to Aaron’s bed. The peppermint plant is on the floor beside him, half of the dirt from the pot spilled out around it, but still growing - almost pulsing.

Matt takes one last steadying breath and darts into the room. He slams his fist into the back of one’s head. The one with the book drops it and jerks around, but he can't do much more than open his mouth before Matt is putting his fist through it. He doesn't stop there. He kicks the one with the book hard in the ribs, putting him on his knees, and then he turns back to the other one, who was only knocked stupid for a moment. 

The smell of something burnt and unpleasant - almost like something has died - cuts through the green smell. Matt slams his fists into the man in a rapid combination: right jab, left cross, right hook, left uppercut, left kick to the knee. The man collapses to the floor with a half-groan, half-sob of pain. Matt stomps on the other one's hand hard enough to hear the fingers break.

“Who the fuck are you?” Matt shouts at them. The one who's fingers he just broke can't speak for the blood pouring from his mouth. Matt wouldn't be surprised if he'd broken several of his teeth. But the other one? The other one looks up at him and spits. Matt kicks him hard in the chest, then punches him in the temple when he tries to get up. He falls over to the side, knocked out. 

“Matt?” He can hear Wymack downstairs. “Matt!”

“Upstairs!” Matt shouts. He points at the one with the bloody mouth. “Move, and I swear I will fucking kill you.” 

He laughs. “Don't scare me.” He coughs out a wad of blood and spit. “Dead anyway.” 

Matt’s eyebrows wrinkle just as Wymack comes running into the room, Abby close behind. “Oh fuck,” Wymack mutters.

“I don't know who they are,” Matt says, “but they're doing something to Aaron’s magick.”

Abby rushes forward and kneels by the one that's knocked out. The one with the bloody mouth shouts and tries to lunge at her when she goes for the knocked-out guy’s hand, but Matt puts his foot on bloody-mouth’s chest and shoves him back easily. Abby stands with a large, black stone in her hand. It's almost glowing, with a sort of soft pulse around it.

“This has Aaron’s magick in it,” Abby says seriously. “Matt, you need to give it back to him. I'm going to change their circle. Just give me a moment.” Matt looks down and only just now realizes that he's standing on something drawn in chalk on the floor. 

“I - I don't know how to do that,” Matt says. He looks at Wymack with wide eyes. “Why didn't I know you guys knew so much about this shit? Why can't you do it?”

“Because we didn't want you to know,” Wymack says, heading over to bloody-mouth and dragging him further away. “And we can't. You have been giving Aaron magick for two days. Do the same thing you were doing before, but hold the stone Abby’s got right now. It will let you give him his own magick back.”

Matt frowns hard at him, but he nods anyway. What else can he do? He has to try… Aaron is laid out across his bed diagonally, like maybe he fell that way from sitting up. He watches as Abby takes the piece of chalk from the floor and starts redrawing the scuffed marks and adding new ones and erasing some of the others with her sleeve. She stands and backs away.

“We need to move this guy and Nicky away,” she says. 

Matt grabs the unconscious guy and drags him across the floor towards Wymack. Abby barely has Nicky lifted up when Matt comes over and picks him up. He is much gentler with Nicky, but he still moves him across the room and puts him by the door. Abby is waiting by the circle when he turns to face her.

“Sit on the bed with him,” she says. “You need to be inside the circle for this one.” He nods and climbs up on the bed. He moves Aaron gently so that he's resting against Matt’s chest, his head on Matt’s shoulder. “Hold your hand out.” He stretches his hand out over the edge of the bed - and the circle, which is right around the edges of the bed. She puts the stone in his hand, and he can feel the little pulses in it. He draws it back to himself.

He has no idea what to do, but Wymack and Abby aren't even paying attention to them anymore. Abby is crouched by Nicky, looking at the cut on his head, and Wymack is tying up bloody-guy’s hands with what looks like a tee shirt. Matt looks down at Aaron and frowns. He picks up Aaron’s hand and puts it on top of the stone and laces their fingers together, then he just thinks about the same things as he did before, Aaron getting better - Aaron getting his magick back. 

The green smell gets stronger at first, but Matt just keeps ‘pushing’ it all back to Aaron the only way he knows how - by thinking about waves again. Slowly, the smell fades and he can smell water as well. He wraps his free arm around Aaron and brings their linked hands to Aaron’s chest. He closes his eyes and just - breathes. In and out, like the waves. 

“Fuck.” 

Matt's eyes flash open. Aaron has his face tilted towards him now. “Aaron?” Aaron just kisses him, hard. Matt smiles through it. 

“Thanks,” Aaron whispers against Matt’s lips. He doesn't move away. 

“Thank Abby, too,” Matt says. He looks up, but everyone else in the room is gone. He wonders how long he sat like that… He doesn't think he fell asleep. “I called Wymack when I heard people upstairs. They rushed over here. I kinda knocked out one of the guys, and the other one probably has a few broken bones and teeth, but Abby is the one who did stuff to the circle thing and told me what to do with the stone.” He twitches their hands where they are still locked together over Aaron’s chest.

Aaron moves them and opens his hand. He strokes one finger along the smooth surface of the stone. “Fucking bastards,” he sighs. He turns his head and presses his forehead to Matt’s neck. “I'm sorry I was an asshole earlier. You didn't deserve it. But thanks for getting me out of this shit all the time.”

Matt presses a kiss to Aaron’s hand. “I forgive you.” He chuckles a little. “Doubt I’d like you as much if you weren't an asshole sometimes.” Aaron pushes Matt's face away, and he laughs harder. “Hey!”

“Someone's feeling better.” They both look over and see Abby at the doorway. She has a mug in each hand. “Coffee,” she says, gesturing with them. Matt holds out one hand eagerly. Aaron makes a face.

“He likes his with more cream and sugar than coffee,” Matt says with a smile.

“Nicky told me,” Abby says with a nod. She gives them each the right mug - green for Aaron, blue for Matt - and sits on the edge of the bed. “He's doing okay. Bit of a headache, but that's to be expected. How are you feeling, Aaron?”

“Better,” he says. “Not like my magick is gonna start leaching out of me any second.” 

“Good.” Abby smiles. “I'm hoping those two and that stone were the ones responsible for all of this in the first place. We've handed them off to the authorities.”

Matt hums a little. “Who came?”

Abby tips her head to the side for a moment. “A couple of women named Dan and Thea.” 

Matt grins. “They’ll take care of them, then, don't worry. Thea knows magick. I don't really know what kind, but even if she didn't, she can lift more than I can. Dan is strong as hell too.” 

“How did you meet them?” Abby asks. 

Matt rubs the back of his head with a sheepish smile. “Dan and I met at the gym a few years ago. We dated for a while, but then she broke up with me. Next I heard, she was dating Thea.” He shrugs. “They're happy, and they suit each other well.” 

Aaron snorts a little. “Guess sex with you must really suck if she dumped you for a girl.” Matt blows a raspberry on the side of Aaron’s neck, and Aaron squirms to get away from him. Matt laughs but refuses to let him go. 

Abby waits with a small smile until they've finished their back-and-forth, then she says, “Aaron, do you want to try to come downstairs for a bit? We have more of what Jean made up for you, and I think you should try to eat. Matt, as well.” Aaron nods.

“Why me too?” Matt asks.

“Magickal energy is a lot like physical energy in some ways,” Aaron says. “When you use a lot of magick, you use up what's stored in your body. Eating and sleeping help to sort of recharge it.” Abby nods to this.

“Oh, so you're gonna teach me now?” Matt asks, nudging Aaron a bit. In response, Aaron climbs off the bed and walks over to the dresser. Matt is on his feet by the time Aaron gets back to him with a leather journal in his hands. 

“Here. It's nothing fancy, but it doesn't have to be, especially for now. Write down whatever you want in it. It's not really an official Grimoire, just a place where you can keep notes if you want.” 

Matt takes it and runs his hands over the cover. “Thank you.” He flips it open and brushes his fingers over the blank pages. It's soft paper, nicer than the stuff he usually picks up from the store down the street. “Where can I put this - just for now? I doubt we're going to talk about stuff while we're eating…”

Aaron shrugs. “Just leave it in here. We’ll talk about it later.” He turns and follows Abby out into the hall. Matt puts the journal on the bed and smiles a little to himself before going to catch up to them. They all go downstairs, Matt and Aaron carrying their coffees with them.

Wymack and Nicky are sitting at the kitchen table. Nicky jumps up and wraps Aaron in a hug when he sees him - at least until Aaron pushes him away and makes him sit back down. He bangs around in the cabinets until he pulls out a small jar, sloppily labeled ‘for cuts’ in Aaron’s handwriting. He smacks it on the table in front of Nicky.

“Put that on your head.” He sits down across the table, and Matt sits next to him.

“I knew we had this stuff somewhere!” Nicky looks at Abby and holds the jar up to her. “Mind helping me out?” Abby nods and unscrews the lid. She scoops out some of the cream on her fingers and dabs it gently onto the narrow cut on Nicky’s forehead. “Thanks. All of you.” Wymack grunts and looks away, Abby smiles a little, and Matt just shrugs. Nicky sighs, exasperated with all of them.

“Has Andrew called?” Aaron asked. “He was supposed to, once they got to Baltimore.” 

Nicky shrugs. “He didn't before all the shit went down…”

“Haven't heard the phone ring,” Wymack says. “Maybe they just haven't had the chance yet.”

“Did you get names out of those guys?” Matt asks.

“Plank,” Wymack says. “Jackson Plank. The other guy was still out cold. Good combo, by the way. You should remember that one and use it in your next fight.” Matt just shakes his head.

“Wonder if he's one of the guys that work for the Butcher,” Aaron mutters. “We need to talk to Andrew, dammit. Fuck knows what they're walking into.”

“We just have to hope they'll call soon,” Abby says softly. “Until then, what should we do for dinner?”

“I didn't go get anything for today,” Nicky says. “Didn't get the chance, really.” He shrugs. “So we don't have much here.”

“Sandwiches?” Matt asks. “The place down the road is great.” 

Wymack nods and stands up. “Write down what you want. I'm going to go call Rhemann from the Trojans. He's clairvoyant and good with numbers. Maybe he can figure out a phone number for us to call to reach Andrew.” He walks into the shop and Nicky gets up to follow him.

“Those guys that were here wrecked the store,” Matt says quietly. “It's a mess in there.”

Aaron sighs and crosses his arms over the table to put his head in them. “Then we’ll have to fix it up before we can open it again. Fucking assholes.” 

“You aren't doing anything until you're better,” Abby says quickly. “Here.” She sets a glass on the table in front of Aaron. It's full of the same green potion as before. 

Aaron looks up at it, then wrinkles his nose. He stands and makes his way around the kitchen, grabbing a few things from the cabinets. He comes back with them in his arms and sets them all on the table. “Cinnamon,” he says and sprinkles a little in. “Honey, nutmeg, and whiskey.” He unscrews the bottle of whiskey and adds a generous amount of that to it. The whole thing looks a little less green and doesn't smell quite as bad anymore, either. “Makes it taste a hell of a lot better.” 

“Whiskey on an empty stomach isn't the best idea,” Abby says gently. Aaron just shrugs and picks up the glass. He drains it and sets it back on the table. Matt smirks a little at the flush that rises to Aaron’s cheeks thanks to the three or four shots worth of whiskey he'd just drank.

“Feeling better?” Matt teases. 

Aaron nods. “Loads.” He gestures to the whiskey bottle. “That shit helps more than anything.” Matt laughs. “Seriously. Makes kids pass the fuck out, and makes adults drunk enough to feel better until they go to sleep or the shit kicks in and starts to really work. The spices just help cover up the green taste.”

“Some people don't mind that taste,” Abby says.

“Kevin is half vegetable,” Aaron says, waving her away. “He doesn't count.” Abby and Matt both laugh at that. 

Wymack comes back into the kitchen just then, and the laughter dies out as they wait for him to tell them anything. “Rhemann can't get any sort of read on them. He said that's not necessarily a bad thing, it mostly just means they're too far away for him to help out.” 

“We’ll just have to hope for a call,” Nicky says with a shrug. “Did you guys get your orders written out yet?”

“No,” Abby says apologetically. 

“Aaron drank like four shots worth of whiskey in his potion, and we were a bit distracted.” Matt shrugs. Nicky sighs but doesn't seem surprised by this. “So that's normal?”

“Well, yeah?” Nicky shrugs. “Have you ever drank one of those things? They're foul without the extra stuff he adds to make them taste better, and trust me - the whiskey really does help.” Nicky wanders over to a counter and grabs a pad of paper and a pen before coming back to the table. “So, what does everyone want?”

They all recite their sandwich orders, and Nicky writes them out. Matt offers to go get them, but Wymack is quick to shoot him down. He pulls on his coat and heads out the back instead, leaving the rest of them inside where it's warm. Aaron is fidgety and restless beside Matt while Nicky and Abby talk for a moment. They eventually get up and go to the shop to start cleaning it up a bit.

“What's wrong?” Matt asks, taking hold of Aaron’s hand. 

“Feel like I need to do something,” Aaron grumbles. “I want to get out in my greenhouse and go work on shit.”

“Probably not the best idea,” Matt says. “But your plant in your room fell off the table, and the pot broke. I think it was too big for that one now anyway. You could work on that?” Aaron nods. “Want me to get anything for you?”

“There's a blue pot in the greenhouse. It's on a shelf by the door. Get that and find a bag of soil. There're some shears in there, too. I'll need them to cut it back.”

“Okay. I'll be right back.” Matt stands, then bends to drop a kiss on the top of Aaron’s head, and grabs his coat before going outside. He finds everything easily after being in the greenhouse so often. The hard part is carrying all of it back inside at one time. He manages, though, but doesn't find Aaron again until he gets upstairs to Aaron's room.

“This was the first thing I ever made grow,” Aaron says softly when Matt sets everything on the floor beside him. “I was seven. Mom had never really hit me before, but she beat the hell out of me that day. I don't remember what I did to deserve it. But I hid outside in the woods for hours, and then I made this little peppermint plant grow. So I dug it up, and I carried it home, and I hid it in my room. I didn't know shit about plants back then, not really. I kept it in an old jar I dug out of the trash. Barely watered it. It stayed in my closet because I couldn't risk Mom finding it. But it lived. And it grew.”

“Babe…” 

Aaron looks over at him as he lifts the plant carefully. “It only ever had my magick in it. For years and years. I never let anyone else so much as breathe on it. Now it's got your magick in it, too.”

Matt frowns. “I'm sorry. I didn't know…” He draws back, but Aaron snags his sleeve and doesn't let him go.

“Help me put it in the new pot.” Aaron nods at the bag of soil, and Matt digs his hands into it. He dumps some into the bottom of the pot until Aaron sets the peppermint plant inside. He and Matt both add more soil to it until it's packed in around it securely. Aaron takes the shears and trims up the edges until it fits the pot better. He gives Matt one of the sprigs.

“What's this for?” Matt asks.

Aaron shrugs. “Do what you like with it.” He takes the pot in both hands and stands with it. He carries it back over to the sill and leaves it there. Matt picks up the leather journal from the bed and opens it to the back page. He tucks the sprig close to the spine so it won't come loose and closes the journal again. He finds Aaron watching him when he looks up. 

“I need to water everything,” he says. “Wanna help?” Matt nods and trails after him to the bathroom. 

The flowers that had all been so overgrown the last time he'd been in there have been cut back and fixed up. He lets his hand hover over the leaves of the small plants on the sill. “These are all fine. They're poisonous, aren't they?”

“Yeah,” Aaron says. He fills a small watering can that he picked up off the floor. “Did someone tell you that?” 

Matt shakes his head. “It's the way they feel. The ones in your greenhouse are soothing. These have...sort of a bite to them. I don't know how to explain it.” 

Aaron smiles a little as he crouches to water the lavender on the floor. “That's about right, yeah. They sort of sting when I touch them. You know when you eat spicy food and there's that little bit of sting right before the burn? It's like that, for me.” Matt nods. “Do the lavender. It's nice.” Matt hovers his hand over the lavender and feels warmth and calming from it; he smiles a little. “See?” Matt nods. 

“Do you have a favorite?” Matt asks as Aaron stands and refills the can.

“No, not really,” Aaron says. “Other than the peppermint plant, that is. But that's just that one plant, and that's...different. A favorite plant in general? Aloe, maybe, or ivy, or there's a certain kind of wild mushroom. I have to go to the woods to find those, though. Then there's sandalwood and jasmine. Ginger.” 

“I get it,” Matt says with a chuckle. 

“Lemons are great, too.” Aaron smiles. “I love lemonade, and there's all kinds of stuff I can do with lemons in my potions - aside from making shit taste better. Honey and lemon are good for a cough, but citruses make good astringents, so I use them in lotions and salves a lot.” 

Matt laughs again. “You get talkative when you're drunk.” 

Aaron shrugs, and they head into his room so he can water the peppermint plant. “I care a lot less about shit when I'm drunk. Most people don't want to listen to me go on and on about plant shit forever, so I just shut the fuck up when I'm sober.”

Matt stands behind Aaron and wraps his arms around him. “You know, I don't care if you talk about your plant stuff in front of me. I think it's neat. You make all this useful stuff for people, that helps so many people, and I think it's amazing. If you want to talk about it, go right ahead.”

Aaron lets his head fall back against Matt’s shoulder. “You're just saying that. It gets boring very quickly. Ask Nicky.” He sets the watering can on the sill by the pot and turns to face Matt. “Besides, you'll say anything to get in my pants.”

Matt can help but laugh at that, and Aaron laughs a bit too. Matt kisses Aaron softly and squeezes his hands. “That's not true, but I know better than to try to reason with a drunk person. Come on, let's go back downstairs. Wymack should be back soon.” 

“Yeah, yeah,” Aaron says. “I'm not a little kid.”

“Never said you were,” Matt says cheerfully. He keeps hold of Aaron’s hand as they head back down the stairs. Nicky and Abby are still cleaning up, so Matt and Aaron join them, though Aaron does more picking up and looking at things than he does actual cleaning. He mourns for a few broken jars of his lotions, then quickly switches to cussing out the men who trashed the place. 

Wymack comes back with a bag full of sandwiches after a short while. Matt tugs Aaron away from arranging and rearranging a shelf of charms Andrew had made for protection. They sit and eat and Aaron sobers up a little once he has some food in his stomach. 

“We’re gonna head back,” Wymack says once they've finished and helped finish righting the store. “Matt, write down our number for Nicky and Aaron. Call us if you need anything or if you get an update from Andrew and all of them. Renee promised to call Abby as well, so if we hear from them, we’ll call here, too.” 

“I have one of your cards,” Abby says with a small smile. “You boys take care of yourselves, okay?”

“Yes ma’am,” Nicky says. He grins and gives Abby a hug. “Thank you, both of you, for helping out so much. We owe you big time.”

“Just try not to get into any more trouble,” Wymack says. “Get some rest.” They head out, and Nicky sighs.

“He's got the right idea. I'm gonna go to bed. My head is killing me. Feels like I've got a spike between my eyes. Good night you two. Don't do anything I wouldn't do!” Nicky laughs and wanders upstairs. 

Aaron looks at Matt. “Think we should wait up, see if they call?” Matt nods. “Okay. I'll make more coffee.” 

“I'm gonna change.” Matt grabs his bag from where it has been stashed under the table this whole time and heads into the side room with the little couch that turns into a pull-out bed and several bookshelves crammed with worn books. He changes into some soft cotton pants and strips down to his undershirt. He can smell the coffee brewing when he walks back into the kitchen. 

“Who likes to read so much?” he asks.

“Mostly Andrew,” Aaron says with a one-armed shrug, “but I do, too.” He leans against the counter with his arms crossed. “Kevin and I go to the library for most of our books. I like books on plants and nature and the other sciences. Kevin likes history. Andrew reads a lot of fiction.” 

Matt nods as he crosses the kitchen, edging around the table, and coming to a stop in front of Aaron. He takes his hands and holds them, then bends to kiss him. It's soft at first, gentle and warm. Then it progresses into more heated kisses and biting lips, tongues swiping inside of each other's mouths. Aaron wraps his arms around Matt’s neck and stretches to his toes to better reach him. Matt wraps his arms around Aaron’s back and doesn't break their kiss as he lifts him and sets him on the counter. 

Matt slides his hands down Aaron’s back to the hem of his shirt as he tugs at Aaron’s lip and moves across Aaron’s cheek, then down to his jaw. His hands settle under Aaron’s shirt on warm skin, just above his hip bones as he sucks lightly at Aaron’s neck just under his jaw. Aaron tilts his head back and to the side as he breathes hard, not quite gasping. His fingers dig into Matt’s shoulders and bring him closer as his ankles hook around Matt’s thighs.

Aaron lets out a low, soft groan when Matt bites down tenderly at the place on Aaron’s neck that he's been sucking at. Aaron drops his hands down to Matt’s waist and yanks up his shirt, his fingers grazing over Matt’s sides and back at first, then moving to his chest as Matt nips down Aaron’s neck to where it meets his shoulder. Aaron shivers when Matt bites a little harder and sucks the skin into his mouth, running his tongue over the place where his teeth were just a second before. Matt’s hands grip harder at Aaron’s waist and pull him forward so that his hips are almost perfectly lined up with Matt's. His hand drifts down to Aaron’s hardening dick.

The phone’s shrill ring makes Aaron jump. He jerks back from Matt, wide-eyed. Matt steps back, and Aaron jumps down off the counter. He runs for the phone. Matt follows just a step behind. Aaron yanks up the receiver just as the second ring begins. 

“Hello?” 

“It's Andrew. We're in Baltimore.” 

“Okay,” Aaron says, the relief evident in his voice. “Ask Neil if the name Jackson Plank means anything.” 

There's a long silence. Andrew says, “He's one of the Butcher’s men. Why?”

“Him and some other guy broke into the shop, trashed it, knocked Nicky out, and put me in a circle to try to steal my magick. Matt got here before they could finish. He knocked one of them out and broke a few of Plank’s bones. They're in jail now.”

“Your magick?” Andrew asks.

“Abby reversed the circle, and Matt was able to give it back to me.” Aaron waits for a few beats. “Wymack and Abby helped us clean up the store, too.”

“Are you still having problems with your magick?”

“Not so far,” Aaron says. “We think those two might have been responsible for all of it. It's done now.”

“Keep the fucking doors locked and do not go anywhere until I call again. We're attacking tonight. They know we're here. I will call tomorrow.”

“What's the number?” Aaron asks. Andrew recites it, and Aaron scribbles it down on the notepad they keep by the phone. “I'll call if something else happens here. Don't get yourself killed.”

“I won't.” Andrew hangs up, so Aaron puts the receiver back in its cradle. 

“They're attacking tonight,” he tells Matt. 

“Fuck.” Aaron nods at the sentiment. “When did he say he'd call again?”

“Tomorrow.” Aaron slowly lets his forehead hit the wall by the phone. He takes a few deep breaths, then stands up and looks at Matt. “I gotta tell Nicky. Will you call Wymack?” Matt nods and grabs the phone as Aaron walks away. 

They meet back up in Aaron’s room. Matt takes the journal and puts it into his bag. He leaves both beside Aaron’s dresser. Aaron turns off the light and they both crawl into bed. Matt curls around Aaron from behind, his chest to Aaron’s back. 

“You okay?” Matt asks.

“Yeah.” Aaron squeezes Matt’s hand where it's resting on his stomach. “Still feel restless. Sleeping so fucking much and feeling drained for so long has me feeling jittery now.” 

Matt slips his hand under Aaron’s shirt and rubs over his stomach. He keeps his touch light but not ticklish. “That potion stuff made you feel better too, huh?”

Aaron snorts. “Duh. Jean might have made it, but it's my recipe. It took a while to get it right, but it's perfect now.” He hums a little as Matt continues to rub his hand up and down Aaron's chest and stomach. 

Matt moves to Aaron’s ribs and frowns. “Babe, you need to eat more. I can feel your ribs.” He fits his fingers between two of Aaron’s lowest rib bones. 

“Shut up,” Aaron grumbles. “I was busy, and then I didn't eat for a couple days, okay?” He sounds defensive, so Matt pulls his fingers away from all but one bone. He traces it across Aaron's side instead. 

“I was just sayin’,” Matt says softly. “I'm sorry. I didn't really mean anything by it.”

“Just - don't talk about it,” Aaron mutters. He fishes inside his shirt for Matt’s hand and tugs it away from himself. Matt resettles his hand on Aaron’s chest, just over his heart, on the outside of his shirt. 

“Tell me,” Matt says softly, pressing his lips to the back of Aaron’s head. “Please.”

Aaron draws his arms and legs closer to himself. “I didn't get a lot to eat when I was younger,” Aaron whispers. “Even when Nicky came and we had enough food, I didn't eat a lot. If I tried, I ended up puking it all up. It's gotten easier, but…” He shrugs a little and doesn't finish his sentence.

Matt reaches up and combs his fingers through Aaron’s hair. “Is that why you don't eat much?” Aaron nods. “Okay. I won't say anything else. I'm sorry.” 

“Not your fault,” Aaron sighs. He leans his head back a little more as Matt scratches his scalp lightly. He hums a little, despite his best efforts to silence himself. “I don't wanna sleep. I've been sleeping for two days.”

“Well, it's late and snowing, and it's not like there's much to do,” Matt says, then laughs a little. He reaches over and grasps Aaron’s chin lightly and turns his head towards him to kiss his cheek. “Besides, sleep is good for you. You feel better now, but that doesn't mean you're not still sick.”

Aaron makes a face. “Didn't seem like you cared too much about that earlier,” he grumbles. He shoves himself up and twists to face Matt. He puts his hands on either side of Matt’s head when he rolls to his back and bends to kiss him. It's long and drawn out, sucking at Matt’s bottom lip and licking at the roof of his mouth. He pulls away with a smirk and makes to lay back down, but Matt wraps his arms around Aaron’s shoulders and draws him into another kiss. 

\---smut ;)---

Aaron is quick to move again, tossing one leg over Matt so that he's straddling him. He moves his hands and shoves them under Matt’s shirt, fingers and thumbs pressing into the hard muscles he finds there. One of Matt’s hands goes to Aaron's back under his shirt while the other grips in his hair. He sucks in a sharp breath when Matt pulls just a little. 

“Don't,” Aaron says, pulling away. He closes his eyes for a moment. Matt’s hands instantly fall away from him. “Don't pull my hair.” 

“Okay,” Matt says quickly. “I'm sorry.”

Aaron shakes his head. “It's fine. Just don't do it again.” He bends down and kisses Matt again, one hand moving further up Matt’s chest and lightly pinching one of his nipples. Matt groans softly into Aaron’s mouth, his hips grinding up into Aaron. He does it again, and Matt wraps both arms around Aaron’s waist, tugging him down so he's closer. Aaron laughs a little. 

“Fuck, babe,” Matt gasps when Aaron pinches and twists his nipple, a little rougher this time. He shivers and lifts his head to nip at Aaron’s neck. Aaron lifts himself up and tugs at Matt’s shirt until he gets it off. He lets it fall to the floor over the edge of the bed and dips his head to wrap his lips around the nipple he hadn't been pinching. Matt groans and his fingers dig into Aaron’s hips as he rolls his own upwards. Aaron can feel his hard on against his thigh. 

He slides down Matt’s legs and drags the waist of Matt’s pants with him as he goes. Matt raises his eyebrows, but he doesn't say anything. He tugs at Aaron’s shirt lightly, just a question. Aaron pauses for a moment, then nods. Matt slowly skims his hands up Aaron’s sides, the hem of his tee shirt catching on Matt’s wrists. He brushes a thumb over one of Aaron’s nipples, which makes him shiver and bite down on the inside of his cheek. Matt finally pulls the shirt over Aaron’s head and just looks at him for a moment, his fingers going instantly to the small scars on Aaron’s chest. 

Matt sits up and kisses Aaron gently, his hands cupping Aaron’s jaw. It's too much like pity for Aaron’s tastes, so he retaliates by biting Matt’s bottom lip and yanking Matt’s pants down further with his hands. Matt makes a small noise of protest as his tongue darts out to lick his lip, but Aaron wraps one arm around Matt’s neck to hold him close and grasps at Matt’s cock with his other hand. Matt groans lowly into Aaron’s mouth as he squeezes and slowly drags his hand up the shaft. 

Aaron breaks the kiss and puts his hand on Matt’s chest. He pushes him gently. “Lay back down.” Matt flops back with a soft grunt, and Aaron looks at him, stretched out below him, for just one moment before sliding down his legs a little further and ducking his head to catch the head of Matt’s cock in his mouth. 

Matt grabs the hand Aaron left on his chest and squeezes. He bites down on the knuckles of his other hand to keep himself quiet, though his little groans still sound entirely too loud to his own ears. Aaron licks up and down his cock and uses his hand generously, squeezing and twisting, while his mouth doesn't go too much further down than the head. Just when Matt is about to start begging for more, Aaron’s tongue dips into the slit - hard - and Matt’s hips jump before he can stop them. 

Aaron glances up at Matt and wants to smirk, but that's rather difficult with his mouth full. He takes more of Matt’s cock into his mouth, moving up and down and sucking lightly, his hand meeting up with his mouth each time. His throat is still too sore from coughing so much to do much more. He takes his hand away from Matt’s grip and uses both of his arms to press down hard on Matt’s thighs to try to stop him from jerking again. He takes Matt’s balls in his now-free hand and rubs his thumb over them with the slightest pressure.

Matt almost reaches up to grab Aaron’s hair, but he closes his hand into a fist in midair and thumps it down on the mattress instead. He clutches at the sheets as Aaron lets up from everything before to lick and suck down and around the length of him to his balls, then takes each of them into his mouth. Matt wants to cry with frustration, even as Aaron’s hand continues to lazily pump away. He's steadily muttering curses by the time Aaron’s mouth comes back to his dick, and he watches as Aaron goes down slowly. 

Aaron starts slow, but he doesn't keep it that way. In seconds, he's doing everything he knows to do to get Matt off. Matt is halfway propped up on one arm as he watches him suck and pump hard and fast. He's cursing and panting between his moans and telling Aaron how amazing it feels, how perfect he is. Aaron doubts any sort of perfection - he hasn't done this often enough to be all that good at it - but Matt seems to be enjoying it at least, and that's all he can really hope for. 

“Fuck, fuck,” Matt says, a little louder this time. He's been good, so far, about keeping himself mostly quiet. “I'm gonna come, baby. Shit. That feels so fucking good. Please don't stop. Fuck. Fuck, you're so perfect, Aaron.” He groans and Aaron feels him tense. There's a moment when Aaron can feel Matt’s dick swell just slightly, and then he's trying to swallow down everything even as he keeps pumping, and Matt is close to shouting. 

Matt shakes as he reaches down and gently tugs Aaron’s hand away. He guesses Aaron is being a little shit, because he licks one more stripe up Matt’s already over-sensitive dick before he pulls away entirely. He flops to his back, catching his breath and watching Aaron move off of him. He tugs the waist of his pants back up to his hips and rolls to his side. He tosses one arm over Aaron and tugs him down to the bed, then kisses him hard.

Aaron breaks it and just lays there, his head resting partly on the pillow beside Matt. He looks at him for a moment. “I'm gonna go shower.” 

Matt catches his hand before he can roll over to get off the bed. “Baby, please,” he says softly. “Let me.” Aaron has yet to let Matt touch him. He always finds a way to turn the situation around so that he gets Matt off first. Then he leaves. Things between them haven't escalated to this point very often - only a couple of times - but Matt wants to give as much as he receives. Preferably, he'd give more. “I want to - but only if you'll let me.”

Aaron bites the inside of his cheek. Matt looks so damn earnest. Matt pulls him closer and kisses him gently, and Aaron lets him. He can't help but wonder what Matt thinks of the taste of himself inside Aaron’s mouth when Matt’s tongue runs over his. His softening dick twitches, hardening again. Matt nips at his bottom lip, and his hands feel so good on Aaron’s chest. 

Where Aaron was deliberately rough and teasing, Matt is gentle and slow. Aaron knows Matt likes the lick of pain that comes with having his hair pulled or his lip bitten - or, now, his nipples pinched. Aaron is different. He doesn't quite get the same pleasure out of it. So Matt keeps his touch firm but not hard, but nowhere near light enough to tickle. He strokes his thumbs over Aaron’s nipples and chases Aaron’s mouth up as he tips his head back against the pillow. They've moved, at some point, so that Aaron is on his back and Matt is half over him. He keeps his thumbs on Aaron’s nipples and rolls them in tiny circles with just enough pressure to make Aaron moan softly into Matt’s mouth. 

Aaron should stop this. He should get up and head to the bathroom and finish himself off. But… If things with Matt are going to continue, Matt will see him at some point. And he doesn't really want to move. Matt hasn't judged him too harshly for anything so far - he's been more understanding than Aaron thinks he deserves - so why not let him see? 

Matt kisses his cheek a few times as he moves to Aaron’s neck. He leaves off Aaron’s nipples for a moment. “Will you stay?” he whispers to Aaron’s neck, pressing a kiss there when he's done. Aaron nods. Matt smiles, but he hides it in more kisses and soft bites down Aaron’s neck. He takes a moment to deliberately suck a mark into the skin on Aaron’s collar, low enough so that his shirt will cover it, but he’ll know it's there. 

Aaron reaches up and tugs Matt away from where he's been bruising up his skin intentionally. In the back of his mind, he's already planning his revenge for that, but his main thought keeps his face blank. “Don't say anything about the scars,” is all he says. Matt wrinkles his eyebrows, but he nods anyway. Aaron wraps an arm around the back of Matt’s neck and pulls him into a biting kiss. He grabs one of Matt’s hands and puts it on his stomach just over the waist of his pants. 

Matt kisses Aaron deeply, pouring everything he has into it. He's hoping it will work as a partial distraction as his hands move to Aaron’s hips and his fingers hook under the waist of Aaron’s pants and boxers. He tugs them down slowly, but Aaron is already lifting his hips so Matt can tug them off. When he gets them to about mid-thigh, Aaron uses his feet to push them the rest of the way off, but they stay piled on the edge of the bed. Matt kisses down to Aaron's neck and chest, his lips closing on a nipple just to hear Aaron gasp and moan so softly, to feel Aaron’s hands tangle in his hair, all while his hands smooth down over Aaron’s thighs. He can feel several raised lines, some thick, some thin, but all close together in a small cluster on Aaron’s right thigh. He understands, now, and he wants to ask, but he won't. 

Aaron wriggles as Matt licks down the center of his chest to his stomach. He watches as Matt grips the base of his dick with one hand - and fuck but it's been a damn long time since anyone else has touched him - and his mouth covers the head. Aaron bites the inside of his cheek as Matt licks down his dick, kissing and sucking lightly along the sides of the shaft as he goes. When he puts his mouth back around the head, he swallows Aaron whole and Aaron can't help but shiver and toss his head back, moaning softly. 

Matt wants to smile so badly. He skims one hand up Aaron’s chest and finds a nipple to rub and swirl as he grips Aaron’s hip with his other hand. His last fling had taught him how to deepthroat, and fuck but he's grateful since it means he gets to see that blissed out expression on Aaron’s face and hear those soft moans. He moves his hand from Aaron’s hip, trailing his fingers lightly down Aaron’s thigh and the raised scars there. He doesn't linger, but drags his fingers to the back of Aaron’s thigh and tugs his leg to the side a little. 

Matt’s mouth suddenly leaves, and Aaron raises his head to look down at him. “Aaron. Baby. Can...can I try something else?”

Aaron nods. He has an idea of what Matt wants to do. “Look in the drawer,” he says, waving at the little table by the bed. Matt tips his head to the side, but he lifts himself up and hovers over Aaron as he reaches for the drawer. Aaron runs his fingers over Matt’s chest and stomach, up to his sides and around to his back. He wishes he'd stripped Matt naked earlier. He doesn't like being the only one. Just as Matt closes the drawer, he tugs at Matt’s pants. “Take these off.”

Matt laughs a little. “Okay.” He sits back on his knees for a moment and shoves them down then raises up on one knee to pull them off that leg, then does the same with the other and lets them drop over the edge of the bed. He sits back on his knees and looks at the unlabeled bottle in his hand. “What is this?”

Aaron rolls his eyes. “Lube, idiot.” Matt’s eyes widen a bit. Aaron just stares at him. He finally lifts one leg and half-heartedly kicks Matt in the thigh. “You aren't gonna fuck me.” 

“No,” Matt says quickly. “Not - not yet. I...just want you to feel good…” He puts his free hand on Aaron’s thigh. 

Aaron jerks his head at Matt’s hand. “Then get busy.” He chews on the inside of his cheek for a second. He decides not to mention that he hasn't let anyone touch him since Katelyn. That can wait. He half sits up and grips Matt’s shoulder and pulls him down into a kiss instead. Matt throws himself back into things quickly. 

It starts with Matt kissing down Aaron's neck again. He lets the little bottle drop to the mattress by Aaron's hip and slides his hands up and down Aaron's sides first, fingers brushing over his nipples and pinching them lightly. He kisses and nips at Aaron’s neck as one of his hands pumps over Aaron's dick a few times. Then he kisses and licks down Aaron's chest, getting both nipples and making Aaron gasp when he sucks on them. He swallows Aaron’s cock when he gets to it and fumbles for the bottle of lube. He has to stop for a moment to get his fingers slicked up the way he wants them, but other than Aaron bucking his hips a couple of times, he doesn't seem to mind. His eyes are closed.

Matt grips the base of Aaron's cock with one hand and focuses his attention solely on the head, making Aaron shiver a little. Matt nudges his legs apart and finds Aaron's hole easily, covering it in lube as he rubs over it. Aaron groans as Matt prods at him. He digs his tongue into the slit of the head of Aaron's cock, and Aaron must have forced himself to relax at that moment, because Matt’s finger slides into him as Aaron arches his back with a long, low groan. 

Matt keeps his finger still for a moment, sucking and pumping at Aaron instead, and then he starts to move that finger slowly, in and out. He presses up on each thrust in, but he doesn't graze Aaron's prostate until he's knuckle-deep. Aaron chokes out a gasp and groan, his entire body shaking. Matt pulls off his dick for a moment but doesn't take his finger away. 

“Do you want me to keep going,” he asks.

Aaron’s eyes flash open, and he looks at Matt. “Fuck you. Yes.” He grits his teeth. “Fucking shit that feels good…”

Matt smiles. “I know.” He leans up and kisses Aaron hard. For the moment, he's glad at their height difference because it allows him to do that without removing his hand. He teases at Aaron's prostate again and watches as his eyes flutter closed and his mouth drops open in a moan. Matt chases it with a kiss. “I want to fuck you with my fingers and suck you off,” he whispers. 

Aaron looks at him. “Let me grab your hair so I can pull you away if I need to.” Matt nods quickly. 

“Or just tell me to stop and I will. I never want to do anything you don't like.” Matt kisses him softly. “Two fingers?” Aaron bites his lip, but he nods. “Ready?”

“Get on with it already,” Aaron mutters, pushing his face away. 

Matt chuckles. “Get used to me asking. I'm going to every time for as long as you allow me to touch you.” He hears Aaron give a frustrated sigh, but a part of him knows Aaron appreciates it. He ducks his head and licks Aaron's nipples, making him shiver. Aaron puts a hand on Matt’s head and shoves him down.

He pulls his finger out of Aaron and adds more lube. He lifts one of Aaron's legs up over his own thigh and moves the other one out a little further. Aaron is flushed down to his chest and gripping the sheets. Matt taps at his hole lightly. “Relax, baby. Breathe.” Aaron takes a deep breath, and Matt watches him force the muscles in his body to relax. He slips a finger inside of Aaron and pumps in and out, working him open. After a short while, he carefully adds his second finger. Aaron pushes back against him, and then both fingers are inside him. Matt holds still for a moment to let him adjust, then begins to move in and out again. Once he's adjusted, Matt pulls his fingers out, adds a little more lube, and puts them back inside of Aaron, all the way to his knuckles.

He bends over Aaron. He grips Aaron’s cock with one hand and begins to suck him off, then he takes him entirely into his mouth. He takes his hand away and stretches it up Aaron's chest to his nipple. He catches it between his fingers and rubs gently. The fingers of his other hand curl up into Aaron’s prostate. 

Aaron shakes. His back arches. He's never felt so much at once. He's panting, but every exhale is a moan, and he can't control how loud he's becoming. Matt’s lips and tongue are a dream around his dick. His nipples are already close to painfully oversensitive. And whatever else Matt is doing is going to drive him mad, he knows it. 

Matt pulls his hand down from Aaron’s chest to his hip. He presses his tongue to the underside of the head of Aaron’s cock and presses his fingers firmly into his prostate. The sound that comes from Aaron is almost a shout, but it gets softer quickly. The shout comes at the same time as Aaron comes. He continues to moan more softly as his come spurts out of him, with Matt tapping his fingers into Aaron’s prostate and sucking at the head of his dick to draw it out. 

“Stop,” Aaron whimpers, reaching up to tug at Matt’s hair weakly. “Fuck.” Matt takes his mouth away and carefully withdraws his fingers, though that leaves Aaron whimpering, too. Matt hovers over him and kisses him softly. “Mother fucker,” Aaron curses at him softly. 

Matt smiles. “I'm just gonna take that as a compliment. Stay here and don't move, okay? I'll be right back.” Matt climbs off the bed and finds his pants. He tugs them back on but doesn't bother with his shirt. He heads down the hall to the bathroom and turns on the hot water in the sink. He grabs a washcloth as well. While he waits for the water to get hot, he gets himself off again - Aaron’s face and the sounds he made echoing in his mind. He finishes, waits a moment, pees, washes his hands, then soaks the washcloth in hot water. He takes it back to the room and is glad to see Aaron hasn't moved much at all.

Matt kisses Aaron gently, then begins to clean him up with the warm washcloth. He is gentle as rubs over Aaron’s over-sensitive areas. When he's finished, Aaron sighs and sits up. 

“I gotta piss,” he mutters. He grabs his boxers and pulls on only those. He takes the washcloth from Matt and heads down the hall. He tosses it in the hamper that all of their dirty laundry goes into, pees, washes his hands and brushes his teeth, then heads back to his bedroom. 

Matt is sitting on the edge of the bed, waiting for him. He reaches out and takes Aaron’s hand, then pulls him closer and wraps him up in a hug, kissing him softly. Aaron breaks the kiss and presses his forehead to Matt’s shoulder. Matt combs his fingers gently through Aaron’s hair, scratching at his scalp. 

“Ready for bed now?” Matt asks softly. Aaron shakes his head. Matt squeezes his arms around him. “Well, what do you want to do, then?”

“Dunno. Just not sleepy.” He lifts his head up and looks at Matt. “Can't stop thinking about Andrew and everyone else. I don't know what they're getting into and I'm not there to help.”

Matt shifts backward on the bed, then tugs Aaron up into his lap. “I know there's nothing I can say to make your worry go away,” he says softly, “but all we can do is wait. We just...have to hope they'll be okay, that they'll come back soon.” Aaron curls in on himself and lets his head rest on Matt’s shoulder. Matt just holds him, running his fingers through his hair. 

\--

Nicky already has coffee and tea made when they make their way downstairs late the next morning. He smiles at them as he bites into one of the pastries Matt brought. Matt figured they were probably a bit stale by now, but Nicky didn't seem to mind too much. He fixes himself a cup of coffee while Aaron pours himself some tea and they both sit at the kitchen table. 

Nicky laughs a little. “Is that a hickey?” Aaron’s hand smacks over the red bruise and then quickly yanks the collar of his shirt up over it. “Well, at least I know you're feeling better.” He laughs at Aaron’s scowl. 

Matt pats Aaron’s thigh under the table where Nicky can't see. “Any word from Andrew or anyone yet?” he asks, bringing the attention to himself. 

Nicky shakes his head, his grin slipping away. “No. Nothing. I called the number he gave us, but I didn't get an answer.”

“Where's a fucking clairvoyant when you need one,” Aaron grumbles. He sips at his tea and makes a face, then promptly adds more honey to it. “I'm gonna go out to the greenhouse in a bit. I can't just sit around here and not do anything. Some of my shit was broken in the shop, so I can go ahead and replant what I need to make that stuff. I can also plant what I'll need in case any of them come back injured.”

“Just promise me you’ll take it easy?” Nicky asks. “You only just got your magick back and sorted out. Not to mention you're probably not at a hundred percent after being so sick…”

“Yeah,” Aaron says with a nod. “I'm just going to plant it and give it a little boost, I'm not going to force anything to grow.”

“I'll head out there with him,” Matt says. He smiles when Aaron rolls his eyes. “I want to learn shit, don't give me that look.” 

“Fine,” Aaron says. He nibbles at a cream cheese danish a bit. “Bring your notebook when we go if you're serious about it.” 

Matt grins and leans over to peck Aaron’s cheek. “I will, and I am.”

“Whatever happened to that stone they used to trap your magick in?” Nicky asks out of the blue. Aaron looks over at him and he shrugs. “If it's cleansed, I could probably use it for other stuff.”

“I'm keeping it,” Aaron says flatly. Nicky holds up both hands in a gesture of surrender. He tosses the rest of the danish on his plate, barely even half-eaten, and stands. “I'm gonna shower.” He leaves the two of them sitting there as he heads back upstairs. 

Matt grabs another danish, this one with strawberry filling, and bites into it. “Are you going to be able to open the store again soon?”

“Yeah, but I won't until everyone is back,” Nicky says with a shrug. “If anyone needs anything in an emergency, they pretty much know just to call. We haven't gotten any more calls about sick kids, so maybe Aaron’s potions finally helped get things under control.” 

“I hope so.” Matt looks down at the table. “He was killing himself making all that stuff…”

“Yeah,” Nicky sighs. “But we still have a few vials left over, so if anyone calls, we can give them those. Aaron wrote down the instructions, so I can give them out without any problems.” 

“I mean, I definitely don't want any more kids to get sick, don't get me wrong, but I'd also like a little bit of time with him. You know, without him being sick or his magick being all messed up.” 

Nicky smiles a little. “Yeah, I know. But the solstice is coming up soon, so he'll focus a lot of his attention on getting everything ready for that, next.”

“I still don't know what I'm supposed to do for this solstice thing,” Matt sighs. “Sure, I helped Aaron out with his magick, but I didn't even know what I was doing. Not really. How am I supposed to do gifts for everyone?”

“You don't have to do magick stuff for gifts,” Nicky says, waving a hand at him. “And it's not big stuff, either, just little things. Like, yeah, I give everyone a set of stones. Amber, quartz, hawk’s eye, and usually one more of something different for everyone, something I think is better suited to what they do. They aren't terribly useful, but they help. And I get super bored just tending the store all day, so I crochet junk for everyone. Hats and mittens and stuff. I'll put charms on them for success and harmony, but that's just something extra.” 

“You crochet?” Matt asks.

“Erik taught me,” Nicky says with a grin. “He can do a lot more than I can, but I enjoy it and it passes the time. I still want to learn to knit so I can make him a sweater or something. I've been working on a blanket for him for ages. I just hope I'll finish it before he gets here.” 

“That's really cool,” Matt says softly. “Still don't know what I'll bring, though…”

“Wine,” Nicky says. He laughs. “Or any kind of booze. Just the little bottles. Aside from Renee and Neil, we all drink and no one ever thinks to bring any, so we end up breaking into Allison’s personal stash all the time. That and food. Can you cook?” 

“Not really?” He shrugs a little and lifts the pastry in his hand. “I'm not really supposed to be eating this kind of stuff anyway, but whatever. And I haven't been to the gym, like, all week, so Wymack's probably going to rip me a new one, but I don't really care right now.” He shrugs and takes a big bite. 

Nicky huffs a little. “How the hell do you manage on your own?”

Matt shrugs. “My mom cooks and I eat at her place a lot, or I eat out. No one ever taught me how to cook, so. Know what happened the last time I tried to cook? I almost set my entire kitchen on fire. I'm not trying that shit again.” 

“Oh wow.” Nicky laughs. “Have you ever asked anyone to teach you?”

“No, I guess not.” He hums a little, then shrugs. “But who cares?”

“Does Aaron know about this?” Nicky asks, leaning back in his chair and crossing his arms. 

“I think? Pretty sure I told him I couldn't cook once. I think he rolled his eyes and called me useless.” Matt smiles. “Guess I am when it comes to stuff like that.”

“You should come around before we make dinner some time,” Nicky says. “I bake, mostly, and Andrew won't cook unless he has no other choice. Neil is a bit like you. He almost set the kitchen on fire once, even with me there to tell him what to do, so we don't let him try. Kevin makes nothing but this super healthy stuff that no one else will eat so he doesn't cook for anyone but himself most of the time. But Aaron? He pretty much feeds all of us if we can drag him away from his plants long enough. If not, I can throw a couple of dishes together. Andrew will usually come down to do something on those days.” 

“I...didn't know that.” Matt looks at the stove thoughtfully. “Huh.”

“Might as well ask him to teach you that as well, since he's teaching you other stuff anyway. He has to cook up his potions half the time, so I think that's part of what made him so good at it. That, and Tilda was a shit mom to him, so if he wanted to eat at all, he had to figure things out for himself.”

Matt frowns. “He hasn't really said anything about her. Only that she's dead.”

“Don't ask me,” Nicky says, shaking his head. “It's not my place to say anything.” 

“Okay.” Matt gets up and pours himself another cup of coffee. “I guess I was just curious, is all. But I'll ask Aaron.”

“I'll warn you now: good luck getting any answers out of him. He doesn't like to talk about her. There are...reasons for that, but I can't really say more than that.”

“It's fine. He doesn't have to tell me.” Matt sits back down and puts a little sugar and cream in his coffee. “Anyway. Booze for the solstice. I can do that.” 

“We all know this is new to you, so seriously, don't worry so much about it. It's not a big deal.” He smiles. “You can make up for it next year.” 

Matt laughs. “Yeah, okay.”

“So,” Nicky says, drawing the word out. “Andrew and Neil are like, weirdly quiet so I never hear them, which is cool, but next time you decide to fuck my cousin? Please take him to your apartment? No offense, but I really don't want to hear it.”

“Fuck.” Matt flushes. “Sorry.” 

Nicky flaps a hand at him. “I hid down here until you guys were done. But like, give a guy some warning next time or something? I can get the hell out or whatever.”

“Like you really have any room to talk,” Aaron snaps, stomping into the kitchen. “You and Erik go at it like fucking rabbits when he's here.”

“At least I say something first!” Nicky squawks. “I love you, I do, but seriously? Gross.” 

Aaron grabs a tin of tea leaves, which happens to be the closest thing to him, and throws it at Nicky, hitting his arm. “My fucking point exactly! The last time Erik was here, I slept in my greenhouse rather than my room because I was trying to avoid the two of you!” 

Matt can't help but laugh a little bit. He stands and goes over to Aaron and tugs him against his chest, folding him into a hug, though Aaron doesn't return it. He kisses the top of Aaron’s head. “At least this time you can sleep at my apartment rather than in your greenhouse, sound good?” 

Aaron looks up at him with narrowed eyes. “What do you want?”

“Nothing,” Matt says softly. “But you could teach me how to cook if you feel like you have to pay me back?” Aaron has refused to take anything for free since the very beginning, so Matt’s come up with little things to ask for when Aaron inevitably asks this question. 

Aaron sighs. “Whatever. It's not that fucking hard to boil water, but sure.”

Matt grins. “Then it's settled. When Erik gets here, you'll come stay with me.” 

“What about when you have to go out of town for your fights?”

“Well, if you don't want to come, I'll just give you a key.” Matt shrugs easily. “I have a spare you can keep.” Aaron doesn't say anything back to that. “Will you try to eat a little more? I'm gonna go shower now.” Aaron pushes him away and plops down at the table. Matt skims his fingers over Aaron’s shoulders as he passes behind him and heads for the stairs.

\--

Aaron has just finished replanting another bit of aloe when he hears Nicky shouting his name. He brushes the dirt off his hands, sprays a bit of water over the small green shoots, and heads for the door. Nicky waves him closer quickly and Aaron jogs across the snow-covered yard to get to the house. Matt had gone to see his mother for a little while that afternoon, after Aaron had filled his head with a lot of, probably mostly useless, information. 

“Andrew just called,” Nicky says when the door shuts behind Aaron. “They're getting on the train back soon, but apparently Neil was hurt pretty badly. Burned. I guess he got separated from the group or something? I'm not sure. But Neil’s father is dead at least, and no one else is hurt too badly.”

Aaron nods. “Okay.” He presses his lips together. “When Matt gets back, we're going to force some things to grow so I can make some stuff for Neil.”

“Aaron -”

“I don't have shit for burns right now, Nicky,” Aaron says, cutting him off. “Andrew doesn't make a big deal out of anything. Remember when Riko cut Neil up and Andrew kept referring to the shit as papercuts? Imagine what he means if he says Neil is actually hurt. So shut up. I'm pretty sure the only reason they aren't at an actual hospital is because Neil is so fucking squirrelly.”

Nicky twists his fingers together. “Yeah, I guess you're right. Use quartz and amber, at least. It'll help.”

“Okay,” Aaron says with a nod. He moves through the kitchen towards the narrow space between the shop and the kitchen where the phone sits. “Do we have Matt’s mom’s number?”

“He wrote it down over there before he left,” Nicky says. 

Aaron finds the number on the notepad and dials it. Matt answers and Aaron tells him what's going on, then asks him to come back to help him with the plants. Matt agrees easily. 

Aaron is out in his greenhouse again when Matt gets there. He's got everything planted and in place, he just needs Matt’s help to make everything grow. He could do it on his own if he wanted to, but he'd be exhausted before he finished one fill row and he has at least two to get through. Having Matt there will help greatly. 

“What do I need to do?” Matt asks. 

“Hold these,” Aaron says, and grabs the stones Nicky gave him. He puts them in Matt’s left hand and holds Matt’s right hand in his own. “Since you aren't a green mage, you won't really be able to make the plants grow. I need you to give me your magick instead. Not a lot, and not for long, but I can't make everything grow on my own.”

“Whatever you need,” Matt says softly. Aaron tugs him down to the back of the green house. “Do I start now?”

Aaron nods. His free hand goes to the soil in the planter box. It takes all of his concentration to find the small seedling and to give it his magick, to encourage it to grow. He doesn't stop until the shoots are sprouting through the soil all down the box and still growing even when he pulls his hand back. He's left the tiny plants with enough magick to continue to grow rapidly even without his immediate presence. He tugs Matt along to the next box and repeats the action, then goes on to the individual pots. The pots don't take as long, but they do take more magick. 

He's stumbling by the time he's done. Matt’s magick has helped enormously, but he's still drained nearly all of his own. Matt catches him when he trips over his own feet and steadies him. “Baby? You okay?”

“Yeah,” Aaron sighs. “Just tired now. I need to eat. And nap. It will be a couple of hours before they are big enough for me to do anything with.”

“Let's get inside, then,” Matt says softly. “I could use the same.” He wraps an arm around Aaron’s shoulders and they head back to the house, moving more slowly than they were before. Aaron’s pretty sure Matt’s feeling what it's like to be drained now, too. 

Inside, Nicky already has some food ready for them. They eat, Matt much more than the little bits Aaron can stomach, and then head upstairs. Aaron toes off his shoes and steps out of his jeans before collapsing into his bed. Matt follows suit, then tugs Aaron over to him and curls up with him. Aaron can't complain. Matt is warm and relaxing. They both drop off to sleep in minutes.

Nicky doesn't let them sleep for too long, as Aaron requested, though he's seriously considering ignoring Nicky and going back to sleep anyway. Still, he knows Andrew and the others will be back before too much longer and he wants to get started on some burn cream for Neil. He might not like Neil and his lies very much, but he cares for his brother, and Andrew tends to be pissy when Neil is hurt, so he figures he can help. Besides, it doesn't really matter if he likes Neil or not, not if Neil needs this.

So he forces himself to get up and Matt insists on coming with him. They get dressed again and Nicky has coffee waiting for them, along with some cookies. Aaron can tell he's stressed out by the three fresh loaves of bread and the four different batches of cookies that have appeared. He tells Nicky to drink some chamomile tea and he and Matt take their cookies and coffee with them out to the greenhouse.

Aaron starts showing Matt which plants do what and which parts to get and how to render them so that they will be effective. Matt writes everything down in his journal, even if it has nothing to do with his brand of magick. He helps Aaron water the plants and add water where he needs it in or take it away where he doesn't. Matt even figures out that he can heat water up if he concentrates hard enough. Matt writes something about that down, too. 

They're in the middle of mixing up the first jar of burn cream when they hear people talking. Matt goes to see who it is and comes back with Renee in tow. She has her left arm wrapped in bandages and placed in a sling.

“What happened?” Aaron asks.

“We were attacked,” Renee says simply. “They had a few bits of magick, charms and jinxes, but nothing we couldn't fight off. The physical attacks were what we weren't quite prepared for. I got this at the end.” She lifts her arm. “It isn't broken, only sprained.”

“I have something in the house you can take,” Aaron says. Renee nods. “Andrew said Neil was burned.” He gestures to the cream he's finishing. “This is for him.” 

“He’ll need it, I'm afraid,” Renee says grimly. “He was taken from us. At first, we thought he'd run off, but he told us on the ride back that a couple of people had shown up at our hotel and grabbed him. There was a woman, Lola. She took a lighter and a knife to his face and arms.”

“Fuck,” Matt swears softly. Aaron knows Matt and Neil are friends - though he doesn't understand how or why, he doesn't question it. He looks over at Aaron with wide eyes.

“Go,” Aaron says, waving him away. “I'll finish this.” Matt bends and kisses his forehead, then he's off, jogging out of the greenhouse. “Was anyone else hurt?”

“A few bumps and bruises. Nothing too serious. Andrew's eye looks bad, but it will heal. We took them all down.” She settles herself against Aaron’s work bench. “Andrew said that Matt, Abby, and Wymack helped out with whoever was causing all of the problems with your magick.”

Aaron nods. “They broke in, knocked Nicky out, and did something to me… I don't know. Next thing I knew, Matt was there and I had all of my magick back. I still have the stone they used. It's...strange. I've never seen one like it before.” Aaron adds another mixture from a beaker to the cream and stirs it in slowly. “Nicky asked for it, but I'm keeping it. I want to see if I can put my own magick into it. Without a circle.”

Renee hums. “That would be a very powerful tool for you if you could manage it.” Aaron nods. That's exactly the point. “Let me know how it goes, if you would.” 

“All right.” Aaron adds in the last of the ingredients into the cream and stirs it up. He caps the jar and holds out his hand to Renee. “Let me see your arm.” She carefully takes her arm out of the sling, hiding a grimace of pain as her wrist moves. 

He puts one hand under her wrist to hold it steady and lets the other rest gently on top of it. He closes his eyes and focuses his magick into her wrist. He's already used up too much magick today, really, but between the nap and the food he'd forced himself to eat earlier, most of it has come back to him. This sort of healing isn't well-suited to him, but he can manage it. He pours his magick into the bones and tendons and muscles and he can feel the damage there slowly start to repair itself. 

Renee touches his shoulder lightly, breaking his focus. “Thank you, Aaron, but I'm sure that's more than enough for now. Let it finish on its own.” He nods and takes his hands away. “Let's go inside to the others. You can make more of this tomorrow.” 

“Yeah.” He closes his eyes for a moment and wishes Matt were beside him. He doesn't want Renee to know how much that little bit of healing just cost him. 

She seems to sense it anyway. “I'll help you, Aaron.” 

“No.” He hates taking magick from others. Matt is different, and only because for a while he didn't have a choice and because earlier, he wasn't keeping that magick for himself, but putting it all into the plants. “I'm okay. Just - give me a minute.”

“You need more than a minute,” Renee says, steel coming out in her tone. “Sit down. I'll take the cream inside.” 

He manages to get to his chair without falling over, but it's a near thing. His vision is full of black spots and his legs feel like jelly. He folds his arms together and puts his head down on his work bench. Sleep drags him down before Renee leaves the greenhouse.

\--

Matt is sitting beside Neil at the kitchen table, listening as the others tell the story of how the fought off the Butcher’s men. Jean is silent and lurking in the very back of the room, away from everyone, but there's a sharp smell to him, a lot like the feeling from the poisonous plants in Aaron’s bathroom. Matt smiles at Neil, then stands up to go over to him. Jean is the only one around who is anywhere near Matt’s height. 

“I wanted to thank you for making that stuff for Aaron,” Matt says softly, keeping their conversation away from the others in the room. Jean nods once. “You smell like the poisonous plants Aaron has upstairs. Is something wrong?”

Jean smiles, but it’s sad and self-deprecating. “I might have been poisoned, a bit. One of their men had something very like the magic I use. It's belladonna. I can fight it myself, mostly, but I need to get back to the glass garden so I can make a remedy.”

“Why don't you use Aaron’s greenhouse, or ask if he has some?” Matt frowns. “You've helped him, and all of us, a lot. I don't think he'll mind.” 

Jean looks surprised by Matt’s offer. “Do you think he has something like that?”

“I don't know,” Matt says honestly. “But we can ask. He should be coming in with some burn cream for Neil soon, anyway. We've been working on it all day, just about. We’ll ask him.” He smiles at Jean and gets a slight nod in return. 

He's about to head over to sit back down next to Neil when Renee comes in. She gives Andrew the jar of burn cream, but Aaron isn't with her. Matt frowns. Renee waves him over so he edges around everyone and meets her at the door.

“Aaron is...asleep in the greenhouse,” Renee says, her voice almost a whisper. “He healed my wrist for me and it exhausted him. Could you go get him?”

“Yeah,” Matt says quickly. He frowns. “Wait. He healed your wrist? How?”

She smiles a little. “He can do that. It's not his best ability, since he's more green than yellow, but he does have the talent for it.”

“More green than yellow?” Matt asks, confused. 

“Aaron is a green mage. He is good with garden magick and herbal magick with a toss of general healing and some other things thrown in. That's why he can make things grow and why he has a talent for making such clever potions for healing people. Yellow magick is based around healing itself, along with friendship and creativity. Those might not seem like useful magicks, but I assure you, they are.” She looks over at Jeremy for a moment, but doesn't say anything. “Rarely does any one person encompass all of the traits for the color of magick they are attuned to. However, there are people who have the traits for a few different colors.” 

“Oh.” Matt pauses for a moment. “Would you mind telling me all of the different colors and their traits at some point? I want to write it all down.” 

“Of course.” Renee nods. “Nicky can tell you all about the different gemstones and their attributes, as well. You may find them useful.”

“I'll do that.” Matt looks at the door. “I'm gonna go get Aaron…” He pauses after taking one step. “Can't I just give him some of my magick again to make him feel better?”

“I offered and he refused,” Renee says with a slight shrug. “If you can wake him, ask him.” He nods and heads outside. 

It's cold outside, but he didn't bother with his coat. The walk to the greenhouse isn't a long one, and the inside is warm. Aaron is sleeping on his work bench when Matt finds him. He crouches down next to him and gently shakes his shoulder, calling his name. Aaron blinks open his eyes and turns his head to look at Matt.

“Can I give you some of my magick to make you feel better?”

Aaron blinks slowly, then he nods once. “Just a little,” he whispers. Matt smiles and nods. He leaves his hand on Aaron’s shoulder and calls up his mental image of waves. He's gotten a little better at it. He feels his magick going into Aaron this time. He stops after a moment. He feels sort of the way he feels after a long session at the gym - and like he could eat an entire cow and still ask for dessert. But Aaron looks a lot better, so he doesn't care. Aaron sits up and yawns. 

“Better?” Matt asks. Aaron nods. “Good. Listen. Jean was poisoned during the fight last night. Belladonna. Do you have anything to help him?”

Aaron blinks at him. “Uh, yeah. I keep stuff like that in the house, just in case. Sometimes, kids will eat the berries because they taste sweet. It happened earlier this year…” He stands slowly and makes his way through the greenhouse with Matt trailing close behind him. 

They get back inside and Aaron crouches down by one of the bottom cabinets on the very edge of the counter. He takes out several jars before he finds the one he's looking for, puts that one on top of the counter, then puts everything back. Matt can see that this jar is labeled ‘for belladonna’ in his messy scrawl just like the jar he'd given Nicky for the cut on his head - which was already pink and fading. 

They walk over to Jean where he's still lurking in the corner. Aaron holds up the jar. “Here. Matt said you needed this.” Jean’s eyes grow wide as he takes the jar with careful hands.

“Why do you have this?”

“Belladonna grows wild in the woods around here and kids end up eating the berries sometimes,” Aaron says evenly. “Besides, I grow the shit. Why wouldn't I keep something on hand to counteract the effects?” He huffs a little. “Just put about a spoonful into some tea every four hours until you start to feel better. Normally I'd tell you to stay here so I could keep an eye on you, but I'm basically useless right now. I'm gonna crash soon and I won't wake up until tomorrow. So tell Jeremy what's going on so he can make sure you're okay. Belladonna tends to make people pretty stupid.”

Jean looks down at the jar again, then looks back at Aaron. “Thank you.”

Aaron shrugs. “You helped me when I needed it. It's literally the least I can do. I still owe you for helping me make the medicine for the kids.”

“Ah, no, you don't,” Jean stammers. “I was never taught to make things to heal people. I was...glad to have learned that.”

Aaron frowns. “What did you learn, then?”

“Poisons,” Jean whispers. “And how to breed new plants, horrible things that hurt people.”

Aaron says nothing for a long moment. “I know you're working at the glass garden, but if you want, you can come by here and I can show you a few things.” Jean just stares at him with wide eyes. “Consider it repayment for helping me out so much.” Jean nods, mute. 

Aaron turns around and heads over to where Neil is sitting. Matt grins at Jean before turning to follow him. Aaron takes one look at Neil's heavily bandaged face before going back to the end cabinets, but digging through the one on top this time. He ends up having to climb up onto the counter, but no one is really paying him much attention except Matt. He slips when he goes to climb back down, but Matt catches him before he can fall and helps him down. Aaron whispers a soft thank you. 

He takes the jars in his hands and goes over to where Neil and Andrew are sitting. He puts one down on the table. “The one Renee gave you is for the burns,” he says, his voice flat and uncaring. “This one is to keep an infection from getting into those cuts. It will sting for a bit, but don't rub it off.” He sets down the second jar. “This one is to help the cuts heal. Use the first one for now, the second one in a couple of days. Those cuts have to heal a little on their own before this stuff will do any good.” He sets down the third jar. “It'll scar, so keep this one and use it after everything has healed. It should help the scars fade. I can't promise anything, since I haven't had much of a chance to test it out. All three are labeled so even an idiot like you can't fuck it up.”

Neil blinks up at him in surprise. “Thank you.”

“When did you make this one?” Andrew taps the third jar, labeled simply ‘for scars.’

“A few months ago. One of the old ladies asked me for something. I told her I'd try, and this is what I came up with. She has some too. She'd burned herself on a cast iron pan. It worked on her scar. She came in a couple of weeks ago and there was barely a mark at all. But I don't know if that was because she took care of it like I told her to or because of this. And I don't know if it works on older scars or not. But that's all I have. I never made more because I wasn't sure if it worked.”

“Time to find out,” Andrew says. 

“This is really impressive,” Jeremy pipes up. “I had no idea you made this kind of stuff. Why isn't it in your shop?”

Aaron looks at him. “Because it takes a lot of time and a lot of resources. If people want specific stuff, usually they just ask Nicky, and he gets me, and I talk to them. There's no point in wasting my time and plants making crap and stocking it in the shop when only a couple of people have any need for it.”

“You might be surprised at how many people have a need for stuff like this,” Jeremy says. “But I see your point. It's a lot of effort for one person to make.” He glances over at Jean who is still standing in the corner, staring at the little jar in his hand and looking mesmerized. 

“Anything else?” Aaron asks the room.

Matt watches a tall blonde woman come closer, holding out a deck of cards. Aaron sighs and takes it. He shuffles it quickly, then splits the deck. He flips the top card. The woman smiles at what she sees.

“The lovers, huh,” she says.

“Shut the fuck up, Allison,” Aaron sighs. 

She turns to look at Matt. “You're turn, handsome. Shuffle the deck however you like, then draw any card and flip it.” She turns Aaron’s card back over and gives the deck to Matt. 

He has never seen tarot cards before, but he's heard enough about them to know that's what these are. He takes the deck and shuffles it well, splits it like Aaron did, then picks a card from further down in the deck rather than the top card. He flips it and huffs a laugh at “The Lovers” written across the bottom in a fancy script.

Allison cackles. “Both of you drew the lovers. Now that's interesting. I'd love to do a full spread for you two.” 

“Not now,” Aaron says. “I'm tired.” 

“Me too,” Matt says with a shrug. “I'm hungry too, though.”

“You should both eat,” Kevin says from where he's standing against the back wall with his arms crossed. “You've both used entirely too much magick today.”

Matt frowns and wrinkles his eyebrows. “How do you know?”

“Telepathy,” Kevin says with a light shrug. “It's limited. I can read magick, not thoughts.” 

“Shut up, Kevin,” Aaron sighs. “I just need sleep.”

“Eat,” Andrew says, his voice cutting through Aaron’s protest. He narrows his eyes at his twin.

Aaron glares right back. “Fuck you. I'm not hungry.”

“Don't lie, Aaron,” Nicky says, sounding annoyed. “You know I can tell when you do. You don't have to eat much. I made some fresh bread. How about it? And a bit of cheese? I'll get more tea.”

Matt reaches for Aaron’s hand and tugs him towards one of the empty spaces in the big kitchen. “Baby, please,” he whispers. “Just a little bit.”

“Whatever,” Aaron mutters. “But don't blame me when I puke it up.” 

Matt frowns hard. He squeezes Aaron’s hand, then heads over to where Nicky is filling the kettle with water. “Aaron...can't eat right now.” He chooses his words carefully and hopes Nicky knows what he means. Judging from Nicky’s soft sigh and the way his shoulders fall, he does. “Is there anything you can do?”

“Ginger tea,” Nicky says with a nod. “It will help. He hates it, but he’ll get over it.” 

“Nothing else helps?”

“Peppermint does, but I don't have any, and lemons, but again - we don't have any. Get him to sit down and drink some water first.” Nicky grabs a glass and fills it with water after setting the kettle on the stove. 

Matt takes the water over to Aaron and coaxes him into sitting down in the armchair just inside the side room. Aaron curls up in the chair and sips at the water, but he sets it aside in favor of laying his head against the back of the chair and closing his eyes. Matt heads back into the kitchen for a while, talking a bit with Kevin and Jeremy, making sure Neil is okay, and trying to help Nicky but really just getting in the way.

Eventually, he makes his way back to Aaron with a mug of ginger tea and cajoles him into drinking it. Nicky comes around a little later with a nice-looking sandwich for Matt and some cheese toast for Aaron. Aaron doesn't say a word as he eats both slices and drains the entire cup of tea along with the glass of water. Matt frowns at him and can't help but wonder if he's doing it just to spite him.

Once he's finished his own food, they quietly make their way upstairs. They both strip down to just tee shirts and underwear and crawl into bed. Aaron drops off to sleep almost instantly. Matt lays awake for a while longer, just holding Aaron and running his fingers through his hair. 

He's glad everyone is back and safe again. He hates that Neil is hurt, but he knows that the stuff he helped to make today will help him out. He sort of wants to be down there with him, just to sit beside him and make sure he's really okay, but he's so tired… Besides, the others are heading to bed themselves soon. He'd heard Kevin and Jeremy talking about how uncomfortable the train was and how little they'd slept. He will have time to talk to Neil some more later, and he can trust Andrew to keep him safe until then.

\--

As Aaron had predicted, it's the next day before he wakes up, though it is very early. He eases his way out of Matt’s arms and climbs out of the bed without waking him. He tugs on his jeans from the day before and heads downstairs to the kitchen. He doubts anyone else is awake yet, but he puts a kettle on anyway. 

He's halfway through his cup of tea when Andrew comes into the kitchen, still bleary-eyed. His hair is pushed up at odd angles and his shirt is badly wrinkled. One of the sleeves is carelessly pushed up a little too far, and he can see the pale scars that cover the inside of Andrew’s arm. He doesn't say anything about them, only looks away and takes another sip of tea.

“That stuff for scars,” Andrew says, his voice rough with disuse. “Can you make more of it?” 

Aaron looks at him. “Why?” He isn't sure why he wants to know, but he feels like he has to have answer. 

Andrew stares at him for a long moment, then turns away and starts to make himself a cup of tea. Aaron picks at the piece of toast he'd made himself and only took two bites of. He already feels nauseous just after that little bit. Andrew sits down across from him but doesn't drink any of his tea at first, he just stares at Aaron. 

“Does it matter?” he finally asks. 

Aaron grits his teeth. “Yes.”

“I want it for Neil,” Andrew says after a moment. 

“He already has some,” Aaron says evenly. “You don't even know if it works.”

Andrew crosses his arms over his chest. “Neil has older scars. It will not hurt to try it.”

“Then you have to pay for it.” Aaron stands and takes his tea and plate to the sink. He dumps the scraps of his toast into the trash and puts the dishes in the sink. “It's expensive. I don't grow some of what I need. Not to mention I need tincture of silver, and I have to go either Raleigh or Atlanta to get it.” He turns around and looks at Andrew. “It takes about a week to make after I have everything I need.” 

“How much?” Andrew asks flatly. 

Aaron shrugs. “Depends on how much the shit I have to by costs.” He studies his brother carefully for a long moment. “Wait until after the solstice, then I'll start on it.” Andrew nods to this, and Aaron leaves the kitchen to go back up to his room.

He showers and changes into clean clothes, pulls on his boots and a coat, then heads out to his greenhouse. He spends his time pulling up what he no longer needs and replanting what he does. He fills up the smaller pots with his convenience flowers and herbs, the planter boxes with more useful and primary plants and what he'll need to craft his solstice gifts, and the tiny pots on the shelves behind his work bench with more poisonous things with Jean in mind. If he decides to come around, Aaron figures he can show him how to create remedies from them.

He's tending to his aloe when Matt finds him that afternoon. He hasn't gone back inside, but Nicky came out for a bit to sit with him and chatter away and bring him food - which he forced himself to eat under Nicky’s too-watchful eye. 

Kevin brought Aristotle outside to run around and play in the snow and he huddled inside the warmth of the greenhouse for a while. Kevin talked about something he'd read in one of his history books on the train ride. When he was finished, Aaron told him about an idea he had for a potion for fertility, since a woman had come to him asking for one just before he'd gotten so sick. 

Almost no one else tolerates their topics of conversation, but they listen to each other and try to remember as best as they can, even though the subjects aren't exactly appealing to either of them. They plan for their next trip to the library and discuss their winter solstice gifts. It's always peaceful conversation between them, with neither of them expecting anything from the other. 

When Matt comes in, Kevin leaves to go dry Aristotle off and take him back inside. Matt heads over to where Aaron is standing at his work bench, grinding up peppermint and spruce for the second time, making it as fine as possible. He adds a spoonful of makko powder and mixes it all together with a tiny whisk. Matt says nothing where he stands behind him, just watches him while he adds a bit more makko powder and mixes everything again. When he's finished, he pours everything into a red-stained jar and screws a lid on it. He opens a small cabinet on the bottom shelf behind him and puts it inside where it's dark and much cooler thanks to the small holes that allow the air from outside to filter into that cabinet alone. 

“What are you making?” Matt asks as Aaron walks around, grabbing a bit of patchouli, juniper, and digs out his jar of dried pine needles. 

“Incense.” Aaron puts everything down on his work bench and grabs his mortar and pestle. He takes them to the small sink to wash out the residue from the peppermint and spruce. “It takes a while to make, so I figured I'd start now.” 

Matt hums a little. “Can you show me?” 

Aaron nods and tells Matt about the plants he's grabbed and how he has to let them dry out before he can grind them up properly. He explains the purpose of the makko in helping in incense burn and how, after everything has been ground well and mixed, it has to sit for a while to let the smells blend properly. He explains how to make the dough and form it into sticks or cones for burning. 

“I can do candles and oils as well,” Aaron says, moving around to pick a few more things so they can dry out as well. “The oils go well in simple lotions, sometimes. It makes them smell good.”

Matt is quiet for a while. Aaron has watched him write down most of what he's told him. He's going to fill up the journal fast at this rate. Still, he can't stick around all the time. Aaron goes back to his aloe plants and gives them another little boost of his magic to encourage their roots to grow. He likes the cool, soothing feeling the aloe gives to him in return. 

“I guess things are going to go back to normal now that everything is settled, huh?” Matt asks. 

Aaron turns to look at him and draws a little bit of strength back from the aloe plant. It offers it up freely, though he feels guilty for taking from it. “Yeah.” 

Matt touches the juniper and dries it out in an instant. “It just seems weird to leave all of this and just go back to working out every day.” He smiles a little, though it isn't particularly happy. “All of this is still so new to me, and I want to figure out what I can do…”

“I can't help you with that,” Aaron says, “not really.” He brushes his fingers over some chamomile. “Renee can show you more. But I have work, and you have to get ready for your fight coming up. It's not like you can't come back here, like you were coming before, but…”

“I can't stay,” Matt says. He nods. “I didn't expect to. It was just...nice. Sort of. When you weren't sick.” 

Aaron huffs. “You're being overdramatic.”

Matt smiles again and shrugs. “Is it so bad that I like being around you all the time?” 

“Probably means there's something wrong with you,” Aaron says flatly. “Might want to have your head examined. Too many hits, maybe?”

Matt laughs at this and moves to stand in front of Aaron. “Come with me to Atlanta this weekend.” He takes Aaron’s hands. “Please? It'll be nice to have you there, and I can take you on an actual date for once, not just somewhere around here.” 

Aaron rolls his eyes. “You just want me there so I can heal you up afterwards.” 

“Oh yeah,” Matt says, “I forgot about that. You could put Abby out of her job.” He grins and ducks to kiss Aaron quickly. “No. That's not why I want you to come. You've never been to one of my fights before. Never know, you might like it.”

“Yes, because watching another muscle head beat on my muscle head of a boyfriend will be so much fun to watch,” Aaron drawls. “Whatever. I'll go. Stop whining about it.”

“Okay.” Matt kisses him again. “Can I get you to come over to my apartment some nights, too?” He smiles at Aaron hopefully. 

“Erik will be here in two weeks,” Aaron says, rolling his eyes. “You can wait until then.”

“Well, if you ever want to, just let me know.” Matt wraps his arms around Aaron in a tight hug. “Wymack already called and yelled at me for skipping out at the gym so much, so I'm going to head over there now. Can I stop by tomorrow afternoon?” 

Aaron nods. “Go.” He kisses Matt once more and Matt squeezes his hand before heading out. 

That night, when Aaron is curled up alone in his bed for the first time in days, he thinks he might have to take Matt up on his offer of sleeping at his apartment a little more often.


	2. LOOK AT THIS AMAZING ART

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> ART, Y'ALL, ART!!!  
> LOOK AT IT!!!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i cannot get over how much i love this
> 
> its so precious
> 
> so perfect

THANK YOU SO MUCH TO [@still-waiting-for-godot](http://still-waiting-for-godot.tumblr.com/)!!!! 

YOU ARE AMAZING!!! 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> go give [this post](https://wingsofwaxx.tumblr.com/post/164079055528/still-waiting-for-godot-commission-for) some love, y'all

**Author's Note:**

> yay, you made it to the end :)
> 
> i hope you liked it. i'm still not sold on this ending, myself. and i want to write a scene that's like, nothing but everyone celebrating Beltane... that would be some crazy fun. but i'd need to do hella research first and i am just Not Up For That atm. 
> 
> also, did you notice my ULTIMATE RARE PAIR in the background of Dan/Thea? Fuck yes. I think they'd ROCK together, btw. i have head canons. i'm just terrible at sharing...
> 
> ANYWAY
> 
> please comment if you enjoyed this - comments are like, my entire life and i love them dearly


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